Allied Enemies
by Hubacha
Summary: Formerly 'Where do Your Loyalties Lie'. Ginny joins with the Death Eaters to take revenge on Harry and her family and is partnered with Draco Malfoy. Soon things begin to get serious and she needs to decide where her loyalties lie...
1. What are you doing here?

'This is honestly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. My partner can't be you.' Draco was standing with his arms crossed sternly across his chest in the middle of the small and completely bare room. Evidently the Room of Requirement didn't think the two of them would need anything for this meeting.

'I'm not exactly thrilled about it myself, Malfoy,' Ginny snapped back, 'but you need to stop being such a drama queen and get over it.' The room may have been empty but the atmosphere of hatred was suffocating.

Draco's expression became somehow more disgusted as he dragged his grey eyes over her. 'I wish someone had told me it was you I was going to be meeting here. I would have just killed myself and saved myself the time.'

'If you're suggesting I'm going to betray you, then you're wrong. I hate to break it to you, but we're on the same side now.'

When Draco had been told by the Death Eaters that it was his duty to work with an unnamed partner in Hogwarts to help bring down Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley was the last person he was expecting to be waiting for him in the Room of Requirement. Raising his eyebrows sceptically, Draco remarked, 'There's a little too much at stake here for me to facilitate your teenage rebellion, or whatever this is. What is it, did Potter forget your anniversary or something and you think a little stint of working with a Death Eater will get him back?'

Ginny could feel her cheeks flushing with anger and raised her hands to her hips. 'Not that it's any of your business, but Harry and I are no longer together.'

'Oh no,' Draco gave her a look of mock sympathy. 'So you're going to help us kill him for revenge, are you? Sounds like you're definitely taking this seriously. Honestly I don't understand how the other Death Eaters even allowed you to get this far, it must be some kind of joke.'

'You don't know me,' Ginny's voice was raised as she took a step towards him, fists clenched. 'I don't have to explain to you my reasons for doing this; you just have to know that I am. Trust me, I am committed. I'm not stupid enough to take an alliance with You-Know-Who lightly. Now are we going to discuss our plan, or are you just going to bicker and sulk, because frankly at the moment it seems like you're the one who isn't serious about this.'

Draco's eyes darkened as he glared back at her. 'Forgive me if I don't want to put my life into the hands of a Weasley.'

Ginny's lips stretched in a sly smile. 'You couldn't ask for a better way to get to Harry. Who would suspect me?'

There was a silence for a few moments while Draco seemed to consider this. Eventually, he reached into the pocket of his robe and withdrew a small compact mirror.

Frowning at the item in Draco's hand, Ginny commented, 'Now's not really the time to fix your make-up, Malfoy.'

Ignoring her, Draco said, 'It's to communicate. I have a similar one and –'

'Don't look in it, the mirror might crack,' Ginny joked.

'It almost certainly will, seeing as your face will show up in it, not mine.'

In spite of herself, Ginny couldn't help but half smile at his calm retort as she took the mirror from him and turned it over in her hands.

'If you open the mirror and say my name, mine will vibrate and I know you're trying to contact me,' Draco continued. 'We can talk through these and hopefully minimise the amount of time I actually have to spend with you.'

Ginny slipped the mirror into her robe pocket. 'Is there anything else?'

'I hope you're not too traumatised from the break-up because you need to befriend Potter again.'

'He says he doesn't want to be with me because it puts me in danger, so that could be tricky.'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'I couldn't care less about your drama. I need information from him and a way to get him where we want him so you need to get over that. Surely your relationship with him is the only thing that makes you useful to me.'

'Fantastic.' Ginny looked up at him, 'So what's your role in this.'

'I'll make sure you don't mess it up.' Draco turned away from her, hands loosely held behind his back as he paced around the room. 'Ideally, you need to spend the term getting close to him again and then arrange for him to meet up with you at Christmas, somewhere away from Hogwarts obviously.'

'You're going to drag this out for a whole term?' Ginny asked, dubiously. 'There must be a faster way. Make the Snitch a portkey, it's perfect because it gets Harry wherever you want and also means you have an excuse for losing to him, other than just being terrible at Quidditch.'

'Portkeys don't work in Hogwarts, and I don't lose at Quidditch.'

Ginny just laughed in response.

'Look,' Draco strode towards her, turning her laughter to silence. 'I'm not going to waste my time playing games with you. Let's just get this done.'

Suddenly feeling quite short, Ginny looked up at Draco, who had ended up unnervingly close to her. His sharp jaw was clenched as he looked down at her, regarding her with suspicion. His eyes narrowed.

'Why are you doing this?' he asked, quietly.

Ginny blinked a few times before replying, 'There are only a certain number of times I can put up with being told to stay at home out of danger while the real wizards go and save the day. Especially when they're as arrogant and incompetent as Harry Potter.'

Draco continued to stare down at her with interest, as if searching for the truth. Ginny didn't know exactly why her heart beat was speeding up. After a few moments, Draco stepped back.

'I'll contact you soon,' he stated, as he left the room.

Ginny spent the day with Ellen, Amy and Dan, three friends from her own year, keeping her mind off the mission until after lessons had ended. She decided that it was too early to do anything drastic, so instead she tried to work out what Harry did in the evenings, so that she'd know when he would be alone. However, now he was determined not to see her, finding him alone seemed impossible. He spent most of his time with Ron and Hermione, and the rest he spent in the Gryffindor Common Room, surrounded by fans. One girl she found particularly annoying was Emily Parker, who seemed to constantly be hanging around him like a bad smell. Except of course she smelt of expensive perfume and hairspray.

'So what exactly is going on with you and Harry now?' Ellen asked, glancing over at the other side of the Common Room where Harry was, of course, with Ron and Hermione.

'Well,' Ginny explained, 'he basically said he couldn't see me anymore because it put me in danger or something stupid like that.'

Amy looked at her over the book she had been reading. 'Does that mean not seeing you in a girlfriend way or not seeing you at all?'

Ginny shrugged. 'I assume both. He thinks that anyone he's friends with immediately becomes a target.'

'He sounds like he's not worth it,' Dan yawned.

'Why are you so tired?' Ellen asked him.

'The first few days back are hard,' he said defensively. 'I'm not used to all the work after the summer.'

Amy added, 'It is quite late. I'm going to bed.'

'I'll come too.' Ellen began to stand up, followed by Amy, who asked if Ginny was coming.

Nodding, she followed them up to their dormitory and said goodnight to Dan. She was so pleased to be back at Hogwarts. After living at home for six weeks with her family and Harry, her plan of revenge unfolding in her mind the whole time, she had felt very awkward around them towards the end. It had been hard coming to terms with the fact that she was going to betray them. What had started as an unrealistic idea in her furious mind had become something much more serious. Now, she was determined not to be ignored anymore.


	2. I thought we'd talked about this, Ginny

The next day was a Saturday, and although Ginny was glad to have the day off lessons – which seemed so unimportant nowadays – she had a feeling that Draco would want her to start trying to befriend Harry again that day. Surely enough, shortly after midday, he contacted her via the mirror, ordering her to meet him by the willow tree near the lake.

When Ginny eventually arrived, she found him sitting casually leaning against the tree waiting for her.

'Why is it that you're incapable of being on time to anything?' he asked, not moving from where he was.

'It's because I know it annoys you,' Ginny lied, glancing around and noting that Harry was sitting alone by the lake; she'd really been late because she'd been distracted by a conversation with Amy and Ellen.

Choosing not to reply to her explanation, Draco said instead, 'Well there's Potter, what the hell are you waiting for?'

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Ok, I'll try. You're not going to stay there though, are you?'

'Not here you idiot.' Draco nodded his head towards the window of the library. 'I'll be in there. I'll be watching, to make sure you don't do anything stupid.'

'That's creepy.'

'Just do it.'

Ginny sighed. 'Ok, I'm going.'

Draco pushed himself away from the tree and made his way towards the castle.

Once he was out of sight, Ginny started to wander over to Harry.

How Draco expected her to be able to persuade him to be friends with her after what he'd said last year, she had no idea. Especially after she'd ignored him over the summer…

The temperature was pleasant – the sun was shining down on her head, warming her hair, but there was a gentle breeze that kept her cool. It was on the brink of autumn, most of the leaves were turning brown and orange but had yet to fall to the ground. Ginny subconsciously pulled her fingers through her hair, smoothing out the tangles caused by her walk.

Gazing across the school grounds, Ginny caught sight of Harry Potter lounging by the lake, his jet black hair blowing in the light wind. She smiled slyly – this was her chance.

She strode over to him, glancing around to make sure none of his friends were nearby.

'Hey Harry, are you alright?'

Harry's head snapped around, shocked. 'Bloody hell, you scared me.'

'Sorry,' Ginny smiled, 'Next time I'll send a messenger to warn you before I speak.'

Harry laughed. 'Point taken.'

'So, do you want me to go?'

'No,' Harry exclaimed, but then seemed uncertain. 'Um… No, come sit down.'

With a smile, Ginny sat next to him, tucking her legs underneath her. 'So what are you doing out here on your own?'

'Just thinking,' he replied, looking out at the lake.

'About anything in particular?'

'Nothing really.'

'Oh, I see.' She fiddled with a daisy growing amongst the twisted grass. 'Very important You-Know-Who related things.'

'No, not really.' He studied her, taking in her lightly freckled face and the red hair that hung either side of her face, appreciating the way the strands caught the sun and gleamed the colour of copper. His gaze hovered over her long lashed eyes, the small lips and the tiny dimples that appeared on her cheeks when she smiled. 'Just… erm… just stuff.'

'Don't worry, you don't have to explain to me. I imagine it's not easy doing the whole "hero" thing.'

Harry laughed. 'Hardly heroic.'

Ginny didn't reply for a while, instead beginning to pick the petals off the daisy.

'More importantly,' Harry raised his eyebrows, 'what are you doing out here alone? I hardly ever see you on your own.'

Sighing, Ginny glanced up at him and replied, 'I was just, you know, thinking. Then I saw you and thought I'd come over and say hi.'

'Oh, cool.'

'So… hi.'

'Hi,' he laughed.

Draco watched them laugh by the lake, his jaw clenched. They'd been sitting together, talking and laughing, for over half an hour. It didn't look like they were just talking as friends, either.

He sighed – she was only doing the task, but for some reason it irritated him to see her with the boy that was unknowingly making his life hell.

His eyes widened. What was she doing? His fists balled by his sides and he made his way quietly over to them.

Flicking her hair out of her eyes, Ginny leaned her head towards Harry's, aware of Draco watching from the library. 'You know,' she murmured, 'if you ever want to go somewhere to think, you can find me.'

Harry smiled, lifting a hand to her cheek. 'I thought we'd talked about this, Ginny.'

'We don't have to have a relationship if you don't want to, Harry, it could just be a casual thing.' Her eyes fluttered shut and she moved to close the gap between them.

'Not interrupting anything, am I?' Draco sneered, walking up behind them.

'Erm, no.' Harry sprang back from Ginny, running a hand through his hair and getting to his feet.

Ginny glared at Draco. 'We were just talking.' She put on a fake smile, leaning back in the grass, putting her weight on her hands behind her.

'Oh good.' Draco stared back at Ginny, ignoring Harry.

'What do you want, Malfoy?' Harry demanded.

'I wanted a word with Weasley, as it happens,' Draco replied. 'But seeing as you're here you may as well know that Granger girl you like so much is crying in the library.'

'I'll… erm, I'll see you around, Ginny,' Harry said, awkwardly, before turning to leave.

'Sure,' she muttered, waiting for Draco to say something.

He didn't. Instead he turned back towards the school and walked away.

Ginny hit the ground with her fist in frustration, and then threw herself back onto the grass.

It was their nightly meeting in the Room of Requirement, and Ginny was there already, sitting on the sofa, waiting for him to arrive.

Finally, the door swung open and he sauntered in.

'Good God,' Draco drawled, 'you're actually on time for once.'

'What the hell did you think you were doing?' she demanded, jumping to her feet.

'What?' he asked, confused.

'Today, I was with Harry at the lake. You deliberately interrupted. Now he thinks I'm friends with you, how will I get him to trust me now you idiot?'

'Don't annoy me, Weasley.'

'You're screwing up the mission, Malfoy.'

'You were going to kiss him. That wasn't part of the plan.' Draco's voice was quiet.

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'I improvised.'

'You're getting attached to him, and it needs to stop.'

Ginny took a step towards him. 'Are you jealous, Malfoy?'

'No I am not jealous. I know you do it just to piss me off,' he murmured, in a dangerously quiet voice.

'You're jealous because we were going to kiss, aren't you.' She smiled, wanting to piss him off.

Draco was silent.

She leaned her head closer to his, her eyes travelling down to his lips before snapping back up to his eyes. He didn't react.

Annoyed at his lack of response, she moved closer until her lips were almost touching his. Lifting her hand to his cheek, she closed her eyes, whispering, 'You're jealous because you want me to kiss you, and not your enemy.'

He grabbed her wrist. 'Stop it,' he muttered, but made no move to back away.

She smiled. 'Admit it,' she murmured against his lips.

'I'd never kiss a Weasley.' He emphasised her surname as if it made him disgusted just to say it. 'Sorry to let you down.'


	3. Have I made little Draco cry?

Ginny stepped away from him. 'You've always been a bastard, Malfoy. It's not entirely your fault, I know, you were bred that way, but Christ you didn't have to become so predictably like your father.' Ginny could feel her heartbeat speed up as the words tumbled from her mouth. Draco was staring back at her, his face impassive and under control – as always – but his fists were clenched by his side. 'No reaction, Malfoy? Want me to stop?'

'Say what you want Weasley.' His voice was quiet and even. 'I don't care enough about you for this to mean anything anyway.'

Ginny laughed. 'You're such a liar! You pretend you don't care what anyone thinks; you're the untouchable, ice cold Draco Malfoy, so high above everyone else that their opinions are insignificant. But you're faking. You do care, you just don't show it. Under the disguise of your huge ego, you're actually quite insecure.'

Draco sneered, 'This is ridiculous, you're just embarrassing yourself, Weasley.'

'You're pissed off because no matter what you do, no one will ever actually like you. And can you blame them? It's unsurprising you don't have any real friends when you're such a self-righteous, arrogant, hurtful prick.' Ginny searched his face for a reaction, and felt a rush of triumph when she saw his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow, which urged her to carry on. 'But you won't change, of course not, you're too obsessed with your fucking image. You're far too good to have to change for them, aren't you Malfoy? Their loss, right?'

'Are you finished?' Draco was still glaring straight back at her, motionless, but seemed to be containing an anger Ginny had never seen in him before.

'Are you getting a bit upset?' Ginny mocked. 'Have you had enough?'

Defiantly, Draco replied, 'I've got all night.'

Determined to break him, Ginny continued, 'Who needs friends, anyway? You've got money, power and influence. But you want more. You want admiration, respect… just like Harry.'

'Careful Weasley…' Draco warned, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

Ginny smiled mockingly. 'Hit a nerve, have I, Malfoy? You act so tough and like you don't need anyone, but you're just a puppet for your father anyway. You do exactly as he says, without question, because you're scared of losing the only thing you have going for you – money and power. You're scared that if you tried to be a decent person people still would reject you; you don't even try for fear of failure. You hate it - but you do nothing. You're lonely. You're weak. You're pathetic.'

Draco's eyes flashed and for the first time he turned away from her. Quietly, he muttered, 'Shut up.'

Taking a couple of steps towards him, Ginny asked quietly, 'Have I made little Draco cry?' and placed a hand on his shoulder.

'Don't you fucking touch me.' Draco span around, shaking her hand off him.

Ginny flinched a bit, expecting him to hit her, but he didn't. His angry glare burned into her, his eyes stormy. She was uncomfortably close to him and she'd never seen him this angry. In fact, she hadn't ever seen him show this much emotion before. She struggled to hold his gaze but was desperate to look away – it was too intense. It felt like he was seeing into her soul.

'You're a joke,' he sneered, quietly. 'Your family is the laughing stock of the wizarding world. So many Weasleys and not one of them has achieved anything noteworthy. My shoe is worth more than your entire house.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. 'Is that the best you can do?'

Draco didn't reply.

'Come on Malfoy,' she encouraged. 'I know you can do better than that. Tell me what you really think of me. Let's get this all out in the open.'

'You act like you're a decent person with all these morals but you're one of the most immoral people I know – and the worst thing is that you don't see it,' he spoke quietly but they were so close she heard the words clearly, 'You're disloyal. You're betraying your family, your friends, your principles.

'This coming from a Slytherin…'

'We're not talking about me, Weasley, we're talking about you.'

'Is that it?'

'Not nearly.' Draco continued, 'You're vindictive. You know exactly how to hurt a person and enjoy doing it because it makes you feel powerful, presumably because you don't have any real power in your life.'

'Oh it's only you who gets that treatment.'

'I'm so grateful,' he said sarcastically. 'You can't control yourself at all, it's pathetic. You're ruled by your emotions and that makes you weak.'

'I'm weak because I don't act like I'm made of stone?'

'No, you're weak because you allow yourself to feel, which leads to getting hurt.'

'That's sad.'

'It's safe.'

Ginny shook her head, 'Sounds like a pretty joyless way to live.'

'It keeps me from being like you.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

Draco raised his eyebrows. 'You got upset because you felt a bit left out so you had a strop and betrayed everyone who trusted you.'

'It wasn't like that,' Ginny insisted, but sounded uncertain.

'Wasn't it?' Draco sneered, 'Oh yes, it was because you got dumped by Potter. You got hurt because you allowed yourself to feel.'

Ginny looked at the ground.

Draco leant forwards slightly, dipping his head down towards hers. When he spoke, his breath tickled her ear. 'I'd rather be arrogant and cold than hypocritical and deceitful. At least I'm honest with who I am. You pretend you're so kind and perfect when really you just want to hurt people like you've been hurt yourself.'

Ginny felt tears in her eyes but she'd rather die than let one fall in front of him.

'It's understandable, I suppose. After all, growing up as the youngest and the only girl in your ridiculous family must have meant you got ignored quite a bit. You want to be powerful. You want to be noticed. You don't want to live in somebody else's shadow. You want to be free from guilt and morals.'

She tried to get away from him, but he grabbed her wrist and held it tightly by his side, keeping his lips close to her ear as he whispered, 'You can tell yourself that you're doing this for revenge all you like, Ginny. But I know you're really doing it because you want to know what it's like to be like me.'

Draco released her wrist.

After staring at the floor for a few moments, Ginny turned away from him and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

**AN: Don't forget to review! I'd love to know how you think it's going.**


	4. You're a very unsubtle person, Blaise

Fuming, Ginny stormed down the corridor. How dare he say those things? He knew nothing about her or why she was doing this. What made it worse was knowing that she barely had a right to be angry seeing as she had said those horrible things to him in the first place.

She should never have said them. But there was something about him that had made her want to – she had desperately needed to make him react to her in some way. He was too emotionless and it made her uneasy. Well, at least she'd succeeded in getting a reaction, albeit not what she'd expected.

'_You want to know what it's like to be me.'_

His words echoed in her mind. She shook her head, denying it to the empty corridor. He was wrong.

As she paced the corridor, watching as the burning torches threw patterns of orange light across the stone floor, she cast her mind back to the summer.

Harry and Hermione had been staying with her family, and she'd spent most of her time in her room with nothing to do. Harry was avoiding her – even evading eye contact – which made it very awkward for her to be around him, Ron and Hermione. She was hardly ever with them anyway, they had spent most of their time locked away in Ron's room, talking about Voldemort and worrying most likely. Ginny had offered to help them, obviously, but they didn't want her help.

'_You're too young, Ginny.'_

'_It's too dangerous.'_

'_You don't understand.'_

It was ridiculous. She was only one year below and she certainly wasn't stupid. It's not like she was bad at magic either – she was much better than Ron at least, and he was allowed to join in the gallivanting.

Ginny felt her fists clench by her sides at the memory.

But then it had always been like that. She was the girl – the one her family had to protect. Her brothers had never liked her doing anything remotely risky like playing Quidditch, having boyfriends or going out on her own. They treated her like a child. She wasn't made of glass, for God's sake.

She'd tried to tell them to let her make her own decisions and to stop trying to protect her, but they didn't listen. So she decided to show them.

They expected her to be weak, stupid and harmless. How wrong they were. All summer she'd imagined their surprised faces when it turned out she was fighting for Voldemort. Even now it brought a small smile to her face.

She wanted to prove that she wasn't just the youngest and the girl of the family. She'd teach them what a bad idea it was to underestimate her.

When she eventually reached the common room, her mood had somewhat improved; she was able to say the password calmly and climb through the portrait hole. She noticed Dan, Amy and Ellen sitting on the floor by the fire.

'Hey Ginny!' Ellen exclaimed. 'We're playing exploding snap if you wanna join us.'

She was about to accept when she caught sight of Harry appear from the stairs to his dormitory and instead said, 'Sure, I'll be over in a bit.'

Dan glanced around to see what she was looking at and replied, 'Okay, but if you don't get your bum over here within the next ten minutes I'm coming to get you.'

'See you in a bit!' Amy called as they continued with their game.

Smiling a little, Ginny made her way over to Harry, who had stopped walking and was waiting for her.

'Hey Harry,' she greeted him.

'Hi Ginny,' he replied, avoiding her gaze. 'I was just on my way to meet Ron and Hermione in the library.'

'I won't keep you long,' she smiled, 'I just wanted to say sorry about earlier, about Malfoy interrupting us I mean.'

'It's fine,' Harry finally made eye contact and commented questioningly, 'I didn't know you were… friends.'

'Oh, we're not,' Ginny said hurriedly. 'He just wanted to annoy us.'

'Oh.'

'So… Can we hang out tomorrow?'

Harry ran a hand through his hair. 'Look, Ginny, I… I'm really sorry but I meant what I said last year, even though it might not have seemed like it earlier. I really can't be… close friends with you. Maybe… maybe after all this is over…'

'You still think you need to protect me,' Ginny said, more as a statement than a question.

'Something like that.' Harry seemed uncomfortable.

Ginny looked at him for a moment, before muttering, 'Fine,' and walking away.

'Judging by the fact that people are avoiding coming near you, I'd say you're in one of your moods again,' Blaise observed as he dropped into the sofa beside Draco, who sighed.

'Can't you take the hint yourself?'

'Draco, what kind of friend would I be if I let you wallow in self-pity all the time?'

'I'd probably appreciate you a lot more.'

Ignoring him, Blaise leant forwards and starting flicking through the rolls of parchment on the table in front of them, 'What are you doing here anyway? Is this work?'

'It's a potions essay,' Draco replied, snatching them back.

'You do realise it's a Saturday.'

'I'm aware.'

Blaise looked at him as if he were crazy before leaning back in the sofa and resting his feet on the table. 'So what's up with you?'

'You're a very unsubtle person, Blaise.'

'Don't avoid the question.' Blaise didn't fall for Draco's attempt to distract him – he rarely did.

'Haven't you got other people to annoy?'

'Is it anything to do with that Weasley girl?'

Draco stopped writing. 'Why the hell would it be anything to do with her?'

Blaise shrugged. 'I've seen you with her a couple of times - pretty unusual if you ask me. So is it a romantic thing?'

Draco sat up and looked at Blaise before murmuring, 'Keep your voice down, you prat, and no of course it's not anything romantic.'

'There's no need to be ashamed.' Blaise laughed. 'Well, most people in this house would say there is, but I doubt anyone would deny that at least she's hot.'

'Shut up.'

'Chill!'

'Blaise, I will kill you, I swear.'

'Alright, no need to be so sensitive.' Blaise paused before asking, 'So you're not getting with her?'

'No.'

Blaise grinned. 'Good, because I was thinking of going after her myself.'

Draco tensed, and after a pause said, 'I wouldn't if I were you.'

'Why not?'

'She's annoying, irrational and worst of all, a Weasley.'

'So you've spent quite a lot of time with her?'

'No,' Draco denied, trying to carry on with his essay.

'So how do you know she's annoying and irrational?'

Draco eventually replied, 'It's not what you think.'

Blaise raised an eyebrow. 'Is that so?'

Glaring at him, Draco muttered, 'I have to see her because we're… working together. It's not like I want to.'

Blaise leaned in closer, a sly smile on his face. 'School work?'

'No.'

After a couple of seconds, Blaise understood the meaningful look Draco was giving him and sat up in surprise. 'Really? No, I don't believe you. She's properly up Potter's bum.'

'Shut up!' Draco whispered angrily, glancing around to check no one was listening. 'It's complicated. Just don't tell anyone or I'll ram your wand so far down your throat you'll digest it.'

Blaise smirked. 'Eloquent, as always.'

'Just don't.'

'I won't! I promise!'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Like that means anything.'

**AN: Sorry this took a while to put up but I went away to Swansea for a few days. I really don't like the name I gave this story, so if anyone has any suggestions for better ones I'll definately consider them. Please review!**


	5. We need to have an argument

'So I saw you with Harry by the lake yesterday, and last night.' Ellen raised her eyebrows suggestively, 'trying to persuade him to take you back?'

It was Sunday morning and Ginny was at breakfast with Ellen, Dan and Amy.

'I wouldn't if I were you,' Dan advised, piling bacon onto his plate. 'He was a jerk, he doesn't deserve you.'

Ginny laughed. 'I don't want him back - I just want him as a friend.'

Dan shook his head. 'You'll just get disappointed.'

Ellen glanced over at Harry before saying conspiratorially, 'What you should do is befriend him and be all cool and sexy and make him want you and then when he asks you to be his girlfriend again tell him to get lost.'

Smiling, Ginny reached for some toast and replied, 'That's sort of what I had in mind.'

'Excellent!' Ellen exclaimed. 'I love a good plot.'

'I fully endorse this idea,' Dan said, 'as long as you don't get to attached to him again and forget about the plan.'

Inwardly, Ginny rolled her eyes at this, reminded of Draco. She could see him over Ellen's shoulder, sitting next to Pansy Parkinson who was practically draping herself over him. Ginny also noticed there were several other girls on the table who kept throwing him flirtatious glances. She'd heard Draco was somewhat popular with the girls, but hadn't really registered it until his comment about Emily Parker the other day. Unexpectedly, he turned his head and caught her eye. His expression didn't change, but he moved his gaze to the door, then back to her, before standing up and striding from the room.

Ginny was just wondering if this meant he wanted her to follow him, when Ellen noticed her watching someone and turned around to see who it was.

'Malfoy?' she smiled questioningly. 'Don't tell me you're after him now.'

Dan laughed. 'That really would annoy Harry.'

'Ginny,' Amy warned seriously. 'Please don't become one of those annoying girls who swoon whenever Malfoy walks past.

Ginny frowned. 'Firstly, I can assure you I won't, and secondly, do girls do that?'

'How can you not notice?' Dan replied, his tone a little bitter. 'He takes so many girls he hardly leaves any for the rest of us.'

'Really?' Ginny said. 'I guess I just don't pay much attention to him. Anyway, I need to go, I need to get a book out of the library for this transfiguration essay.'

She grabbed her bag, grateful to have thought of such a boring excuse that the others didn't even think to question her, and followed Draco out of the room. As she didn't see him in the corridor, she continued down it, keeping an eye out for him. Taking the mirror from her pocket, she held it loosely in her hand in case he was planning on contacting her with that. She barely made it ten metres before he had stepped out from behind a coat of armour, making her jump despite the fact that she'd been looking out for him.

'Why do you always sneak up on me?' Ginny demanded.

With only a smirk as a reply to her question, Draco pulled her into an empty classroom away from the stream of people. He leant against a desk and said, 'Are you planning on seeing Potter today?'

'Well we do go to the same school,' Ginny repeatedly opened the mirror that was still in her hand and snapped it shut again as she spoke, 'so it's quite likely.'

Glancing down at the mirror in her hand, Draco continued, 'We need to… can you please stop that?'

'Stop what?'

'Being annoying.'

'Can you be more specific?'

'It's hard to be specific when I mean everything about you.'

'Funny,' Ginny said, sarcastically, sliding the mirror back into her pocket. 'Anyway, I spoke to him last night, he said he meant what he said last year, he doesn't want to be friends with me. I can't believe you interrupted, you twat, it was going fine and now it's all messed up. He asked if I was friends with you.'

'We need to have an argument,' Draco stated.

'I didn't realise you were addicted,' Ginny replied, sitting on a nearby desk.

'No you idiot, we need to have one in front of Potter so he doesn't think we're friends.'

'Oh.' Ginny understood now. 'Well that shouldn't be a problem, we have them whenever we talk anyway, so it should come naturally.'

'Yeah well you'll need to at least try to be convincing.'

'To be honest I don't think there'll be very much acting involved.' Ginny twisted a few strands of her hair around her finger and asked, 'Have you thought of what we're going to argue about?'

'Yes,' Draco replied, watching her hand as she played with her hair.

Ginny looked up at him. 'Good thing I asked or I wouldn't know what was going on.'

Pulling his gaze away, he turned around briefly to retrieve a potions book from his bag. 'You're going to hand this back to me saying I left it in the library and I'm going to refuse to take it because you've touched it.'

'Wow.' Ginny raised her eyebrows. 'You're really going to emphasise how much of a dick you are. The saddest part is that it'll be really believable to anyone who sees.'

Ginny moved out of the way of the book which Draco had thrown at her.

'The point is, we'll do it when Potter and his gang of retards can see,' Draco continued. 'You'll go over to him and cry or whatever and he'll feel some weird desire to comfort you, and realise that we're not actually friends after all.'

Ginny shrugged. 'Okay, it's not a bad plan. When do we do it?'

'Now,' Draco replied. 'Potter and pals are by the lake so we'll do it there.'

After Draco had quickly run through what she should say, they began to make their way towards the lake.

He had to admit, Ginny had impressive timing; she jogged out of the castle over to him as he walked past Potter, catching up with him and calling his name just as he was a few metres away from them.

'Malfoy,' she called. 'You left this in the library.'

He turned around, his gaze moving from her face to the book she held in her outstretched hand and back to her face, before replying, in the most disdainful voice he could muster, 'Keep it, I don't want it now it's been soiled. Besides, you probably need it more than me.'

'I don't want it, thanks,' Ginny snapped back.

'Are you sure?' Draco sneered. 'It's probably the newest thing you've ever held, Weasley.'

Ron Weasley got to his feet and yelled, 'Oi!' but Ginny shouted at him to keep out of it.

'Why do you have to be such a bastard?' Ginny demanded. 'I'm trying to help you here, no one else is, why can't you just accept my help?'

Draco frowned; she wasn't sticking to the script. They'd agreed that she'd call him a snob, not this. He realised the double meaning in her words and replied, 'Maybe I don't think you're helping me just because you want to. You've probably got some ulterior motive for this. Besides, I don't associate myself with scum like yourself.'

'You fucking snob,' Ginny took a step towards him, lowering her voice a little, clearly aware of the dozens of people now watching. 'All I want to do is give you the stupid book back. I don't want friendship - I'd rather eat slugs - I just don't want to be treated like shit.'

Draco lowered his own voice to say, 'Maybe I don't want to take the book because I think you're only giving me it for a short time, and then you'll want to take it back and give it to someone else, like Potter.' Then he added in barely more than a whisper, 'Because if you are thinking about backing out of this, Weasley, you may as well just kill me now.'

Ginny took a step back, a shocked expression on her face – she looked as though she'd just been slapped. 'I can't believe you still don't trust me at all.' She then threw the book to the ground and spoke louder to make sure Harry heard her as she said, 'Well fuck you Malfoy, I guess you're just as much of a bastard as everyone says.'

She started to storm off, but Harry stopped her with a hand on her arm.

'Ginny,' he started to say, but she interrupted.

'Get off me Harry,' she cried. 'You're just as bad! Not wanting me to help you or even be your friend because you're scared.'

'I'm just trying to protect you!' Potter tried to defend himself.

'I can protect myself!' she protested. 'You don't always have to be a hero, Harry, sometimes I just need you to be a friend.'

With that, she stormed off back into the castle.

**AN: Please let me know if I make anyone act out of character, especially Draco, because it's one of the main things I'm trying to avoid in this story. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of this.**


	6. I'm not arrogant, I'm perfect

'What lesson have you got first?' Dan asked Ginny as they left the Great Hall after breakfast a couple of days later.

'Transfiguration,' Ginny replied, shifting the strap of her bag further onto her shoulder to stop it slipping off.

'Ellen and I have got potions.' Dan sighed. 'So we're going to have to leave you I'm afraid.'

'Damn, I hate walking to lessons on my own,' Ginny moaned. 'Where the hell is Amy?'

Ellen shrugged. 'She didn't come to breakfast because she had to finish her transfiguration essay, you'll probably meet her on the way.'

'Ok,' Ginny sighed. 'I'll see you guys later.'

She watched them disappear into the crowd of students before making her way towards her transfiguration classroom. She'd almost reached it when she noticed Harry pushing his way through a group of first years to get to her. She stopped walking and waited for him to reach her, greeting him with an emotionless, 'Hi, I need to get to my lesson.'

'Ginny, wait.' Harry stopped her.

She looked at him expectantly.

'I'm really sorry for being such an idiot.' He put on an apologetic smile. 'I forgot you didn't care about small things like risking your safety.'

'It's my safety to risk,' Ginny replied, but with a friendly smile.

'That doesn't mean I'm going to let you get involved with, well…' e glanced around, and even though the corridor was now empty he just finished with, '…you know what I mean.'

Ginny pretended to be indignant about this. 'But Harry!'

'No,' he said firmly. 'I'm willing to be your friend, that's what you wanted, but I'm not going to put you in any immediate danger by dragging you into this mess.'

'Fine.' Ginny sighed, then smiled. 'Does this mean we can hang out again?'

'Yeah, can I see you tonight? We haven't talked in ages.'

'Sure.' Ginny nodded. 'We could go for a walk or something after dinner.'

'Sounds great.'

'Hopefully Ron and Hermione can survive an evening without you and still be on speaking terms by the end.'

Harry laughed. 'To be honest I think they'd enjoy an evening alone, if you know what I mean.'

Ginny raised her eyebrows. 'You mean something might finally be happening with them?'

They continued to talk for a few more minutes, not about anything important, but Ginny was pleased to be making such good progress. Unfortunately Professor McGonagall strode past, noticing them standing unhidden in the middle of the corridor.

'What do you two think you are doing?' she asked. 'Miss Weasley, I know for a fact that you should be in a transfiguration lesson, as I am the one teaching it. Unfortunately for you, I suspect you don't have a good excuse for not being there, unlike myself, unless you too were in a meeting with the Headmaster.'

Ginny smiled sheepishly. 'Well, no Professor.'

'And Mr Potter,' McGonagall continued, 'I expect you're missing a lesson as well. I'll see you both in detention tonight at nine.'

'Actually Professor,' Harry began, but he was interrupted.

'No excuses,' McGonagall barked. 'Now come with me, Miss Weasley, we have a lesson to get to. Run along, Mr Potter.'

Harry half smiled at Ginny before turning to walk the opposite direction down the corridor.

Grinning, Ginny silently tiptoed into the Room of Requirement, creeping up behind Draco, who was sitting at the desk, his head bent over a pile of parchment. She lifted her hands, ready to grab his shoulders…

'What are you doing here, Weasley?'

Ginny's face fell, her arms dropped to her side. 'How do you always know when I'm coming?'

'Because you are about as subtle as a rhino with its tail on fire.'

'Shut up, I made no sound at all. You must have a mirror or something.' She leant over his shoulder to search his desk, but found nothing apart from schoolwork.

'It's a gift,' Draco murmured, swatting her away from his work. 'And what are you doing here an hour early?'

'I have a detention at nine so I won't be able to come at the usual time,' Ginny stated as she threw herself down on the sofa. 'Also I was supposed to be going for a walk with Harry but now this detention is happening we've moved it to tomorrow night. Dan, Ellen and Amy are busy doing work so I came to hang out with you instead.'

'You aren't going to do your work then?'

'Well, I was going to, but then I asked myself: "Do I actually care?" and I answered myself: "No". So I came here.'

'Talking to yourself now, are you?'

'Well yes. It's actually the only way I can have a sensible conversation anymore.'

'So why don't you go and talk to yourself somewhere else? I'm busy.'

'Because sometimes you're fun to hang out with and don't lie you're not busy.'

'We argue whenever we're together – why are you really here?'

Ginny shrugged. 'You're alright sometimes.'

Draco raised an eyebrow.

'That probably didn't help with your massive arrogance problem,' she continued.

'I'm not arrogant – I'm perfect.' He half smiled.

'Of course. And you only act like you're better than everyone else to hide your many and varied insecurities,' she said, sarcastically.

'I don't have insecurities!'

'You're right, you don't have feelings.'

'That's not true.'

'Malfoy, you're dead inside.'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'I'm not dead, I've numbed myself so that you don't make me suicidal,' he stood up from his chair and joined her on the sofa.

'Is it working?' she asked, pulling her legs closer to her to give him room to sit down.

'Usually.'

'Damn. I'll have to try harder.'

Ginny noticed an expression on his face that she hadn't seen before, after a moment she realised why it looked so unfamiliar: it was a genuine smile, without a hint of a smirk or a sneer. It made her smile too.

'Speaking of trying harder,' he smoothed out a crease in his trousers absently, 'how's it going with Potter?'

Ginny sighed. 'Do we have to talk about that? We were almost having a normal conversation.'

'Yes we do,' he persisted. 'We're doing a job, remember?'

'Yes, but whenever we talk about Harry - '

'"Harry"?' he interrupted her.

'I meant Potter,' she corrected herself. 'And what's wrong with calling him Harry anyway? I'm supposed to become his friend, after all.'

'You're supposed to pretend to be his friend, not actually be one.'

Ginny picked at a loose thread protruding from a seam on the sofa. 'Don't you think he'd be at all suspicious if I called him Potter all the time? He calls me Ginny.'

'That doesn't mean you have to call him Harry when he's not here.'

'What's the big deal?' she demanded, exasperated.

'The big deal is, he's going to be killed,' he tried to catch her eye but she defiantly stared down at the sofa, 'and you can't get too attached.'

'I'm not!'

He eyed her with suspicion, but eventually looked away and said, 'Fine.'

'What's so important about first and last names, anyway?' she grumbled.

'I only call people by their first name if I like and trust them; someone I'd consider a good friend' he muttered. 'It's a tradition.'

'Whatever,' Ginny rolled her eyes. 'It's going well. After our display on Sunday he must have felt pretty guilty because today he apologised and said I could be his friend again.'

'Well, I am a genius.'

'I think it was my slight adaption to the script that made the difference, actually,' Ginny claimed.

'I doubt it,' Draco replied. 'What's your detention for?'

'Oh, well when we talked it was when I was supposed to be in a transfiguration lesson, and McGonagall caught us.'

Draco frowned. 'You must be rubbish at hiding.'

'We weren't exactly hiding,' she admitted. 'In fact we were just in the middle of the corridor.'

'Are you a complete idiot?'

'Shut up,' Ginny laughed. 'You should be pleased with me, everything's back on track.'

'Yeah,' Draco said quietly, looking away from her at the floor.

Unsure of what this meant, Ginny was about to question him when she caught sight of the clock on the wall and stood up quickly. 'Damn, I need to go. I'll see you later.'

'Have fun,' Draco called sarcastically as she left the room.

**AN: Almost 600 hits and only 4 reviews? Come on guys, please give me some feedback. Thanks to the 3 people who did review, I appreciate it very much. This chapter isn't very interesting, but the next one is pretty exciting, so hopefully that will make up for it.**

**Also, I went through the other chapters fixing the typos I found and added lines between sections - I didn't realise that the stars I had put between them were taken away. Anyway, if you see any typos or mistakes that I miss, please let me know. **


	7. So what do you want with me?

Ginny and Harry had spent the last hour sitting in silence, each writing an essay about why it was important to attend lessons.

Suddenly, Harry spoke to McGonagall, who was sitting at her desk at the front of the classroom, 'Professor, this is unfair on Ginny. It's not her fault.'

McGonagall eyed him, 'She was out of her lesson, was she not?'

'Well yes, but only because I asked her to stay. I wanted to talk to her about… something important. She said she had to go to her lesson but I stopped her.'

Turning to Ginny, McGonagall asked, 'Is this true, Miss Weasley?'

When Ginny nodded, she continued, 'Very well then, an hour's detention will be enough punishment, you may leave Miss Weasley.'

Ginny smiled gratefully at Harry, standing up from her desk. As she left the room she heard McGonagall say sternly, 'You, however, Mr Potter, will have to stay for another half an hour. Taking other students out of lessons is unacceptable.'

It was just past ten now, so all students had to be in their dormitories, leaving the corridors empty.

Or so she thought.

She turned right at the end of the corridor, having to stop abruptly when a boy stepped in front of her, blocking her path. It was Harding, a Slytherin, and his friends Bolton and Edwards.

She lifted her head and was about to ask what he wanted, when he demanded, 'You're Weasley, right?'

She frowned, 'Yeah, why?'

He glared at her in silence for a few moments. Ginny was unsettled by the look of hatred on his face. What had she done to him?

'Do you know my brother, Weasley?' He eventually asked.

'Not personally, no,' Ginny replied, eying the other two boys who moved to either side of her.

Harding's eyes were narrowed and bloodshot, with dark circles beneath them, 'He was killed yesterday,' he growled.

'I'm sorry for you loss,' she said, uncertainly.

'Because of Potter,' he spat.

Unsure of what was going on, she murmured, 'What does this have to do with me?'

Edwards shoved her, hard, into the wall of the corridor, 'His brother's is dead because of your fucking boyfriend!'

'He's not my boyfriend, and I'm not Harry. So I don't see how I'm to blame.'

'I'm not saying you are,' Harding growled.

'So what do you want with me?'

'Potter doesn't have any brothers, you're the person he most cares about.'

Ginny began to see where this was going, 'Trust me, I'm not.'

Harding sneered, 'Whatever, Weasley, I'm going to show Potter what it's like to have someone important to you hurt.'

'I'm sure he already knows, to be honest,' Ginny glanced at either end of the corridor, confirming her worry that there was no one else around, 'And anyway, how do you even know it was his fault? Did he kill your brother himself? I'm sure there was a reason he was killed.'

'Show some fucking respect,' Bolton snapped

Ginny turned to face him, 'You're the ones threatening me.'

She noted the fact that all three of them had their wands pointed at her, and began to slowly reach for her own.

'Don't even think about it,' Edwards reached into her pocket and took her wand himself, leaving Ginny defenceless. Her heart thumped faster as she racked her brain for a way of escape. She didn't believe they'd actually kill her, but they were likely to do her a substantial amount of harm judging by their violent expressions. There were renowned for it, after all.

'This isn't going to achieve anything,' Ginny tried to reason, 'It's not like your brother was randomly killed – he's a Death Eater, it's unlikely he didn't deserve… it…' Immediately after she'd said it, she inwardly berated herself for it. She'd always been the kind of person who acts on impulse, usually it was a good thing, but right now she knew she'd made a mistake when Harding's expression darkened.

Harding snarled furiously, 'My brother was worth a hundred of you or any other filthy Potter-worshippers.'

Ginny laughed at that, but stopped when she realised what a bad idea it was. Bolton obviously wouldn't get how ironic that was.

'You think it's funny do you?' Bolton shouted, his hand flying across her face. Her head span to the side, blood rushing to where he'd slapped her.

She tried to step forward, but Harding pushed her back, trapped her again. Through reflex, she jerked her knee up into his crotch, causing him to step back and double over.

Seizing her chance, Ginny darted forwards, feeling one of the boys' hands brush her arm as she dashed away. Her breath quickened as she realised she was running towards a dead end. She swore.

Swerving suddenly, she sprinted into one of the classrooms on her right, aware of the footsteps behind her and just avoided a spell that had been sent in her direction. Glancing around the room, hoping to find a teacher, she cursed when she found no one there.

She slowly turned to face the three boys who stood smirking by the door. Her eyes scanned the room for weapons as they advanced towards her. One of them sent a spell at her – she didn't know which because she was too distracted by the sudden pain in her upper arm where the spell had grazed her, slashing her flesh open and causing blood to spill out.

Bolton grabbed her arm, twisting it sharply up behind her. Ginny cringed as a wave of pain shot up from her wrist to her shoulder. Lashing out wildly, she attempted to get him to let go, but he simply tightened his grip. She leant forwards to ease the pressure on her joints, before ramming him back into a desk.

Caught off guard, he loosed his grip, allowing Ginny to spin back around and slam her fist into his chin. Bolton staggered back into the desk again, clutching his jaw. Stepping out of Bolton's path, Harding used his wand to fling a chair towards Ginny. She ducked out of the way, crouching behind a desk.

Her heart pounded in her head, her arm still throbbing with pain. Could she make it to the door?

A loud grating sound made her jump. Harding was pushing desks out of his way.

Standing up suddenly, she darted towards the door, almost managing to get there but was stopped when Bolton's hand gripped her wrist and slammed her into the wall.

Her head hit the stone with a crack that sent her to the floor and blurred her vision. There was a clatter as her wand was thrown to the ground; she heard the boys swearing in panic and leaving her, their hurried footsteps echoing as they jogged down the corridor.

Ginny groaned and dragged herself across the floor towards the corridor and reaching for her wand. Closing her eyes against the spinning world around her, she managed to make it halfway into the corridor before she collapsed unconscious.


	8. I'll kill them if you like

'Ginny? Shit, what happened? Who did this to you?' A boy knelt beside her, gently lifting her into a sitting position.

Ginny groaned as she blinked into consciousness. Who was speaking? Whose hands were carefully propping her up against the wall? Was it Draco?

'Are you alright?'

No. It was Harry, whose detention had obviously just ended. What a stupid question to ask.

'Oh I'm just wonderful,' she muttered, her voice shaky.

Harry smiled. 'No brain damage done then.'

'Huh?'

'Never mind.' He brushed her hair from her face. 'What happened to you?'

Ginny shook her head slowly from side to side, trying to clear her thoughts. She didn't want to explain to him.

'Ginny? Talk to me,' he encouraged her.

No. She didn't want to talk to him. There was only one person she wanted to talk to right now, and it wasn't Harry.

Bracing her hands against the wall, she tried to stand up. Harry rushed towards her, steadying her. Pain flared through her head. The pain was worst at her temple; gingerly, she raised a hand to the injury. Blood spilt onto her fingertips, the warm liquid smooth and sickly. She jerked her hand away, immediately regretting the sudden movement when a fresh wave of agony washed over her. Grimacing, she struggled to her feet, the pain almost causing her to pass out again. She swayed slightly, eyes clamped shut until the pain subsided slightly to a dull throb.

'You should go to the Hospital Wing,' he suggested, noticing how shaky she was.

'No, I'm fine,' she insisted. Her eyes eventually fluttered open.

Harry laughed, eyeing the bruises on her arms, the wound at her temple that oozed blood, another on her chin and a red mark on her cheek in the vague shape of a hand. 'Of course you are.'

'I just need to...' She went to take a step forwards, swaying as dizziness washed over her. 'I just need to go to bed.'

'Are you sure? You look like you need -'

'I'm sure. But, will you walk me back?'

Harry nodded, pulling her arm around his neck to support her.

* * *

When they arrived at the Common Room, Ginny thanked Harry and waited for his footsteps to disappear. As soon as it was silent, she crept back down the stairs, wincing whenever she stepped too heavily, sending pain through her head.

Ah yes, there was only one person she needed right now.

As she made her way down to the Slytherin Common Room, her breath formed mist in front of her, the burning torches on the walls sending orange flickers across her face. With only her shadow for company, she kept walking.

When she eventually reached the dungeons, she retrieved the mirror from her pocket, whispering Draco's name into it and waiting until his pointed face appeared on the mirror instead of hers.

'What do you want at this ridiculous time?' Draco demanded.

'I need to see you,' Ginny said quietly. 'I'm outside your common room, tell me the password.'

Uncertainly, Draco replied, 'Can't I just come out?'

Ginny was silent, wondering if he'd trust her with this or not.

After a hesitation, Draco revealed the password – which Ginny repeated to enable her to enter the common room. Draco had closed his mirror immediately after telling her the password, so Ginny shut her own and returned it to her pocket as she crept across the empty room.

Forgetting about the grazes on her knuckles, she knocked on the door of his dormitory, drawing her hand away sharply when the pain reminded her of their presence.

Draco opened the door. 'So what do you want?' he asked. His eyes widened when he noticed her injuries. 'Christ, Weasley, what the hell have you done?'

Ginny smiled slightly. 'I tripped.'

He lifted his hand to her face, tracing the red hand print on her cheek with his fingertips. 'Someone did this to you, didn't they?'

'Yes.'

His eyes narrowed and his hand stilled. 'Who?'

Ginny put her hand over his, gently pulling it away from her face. 'Some guys.'

'Some?' he exclaimed.

'Well yeah, otherwise I wouldn't look like this.'

'I don't imagine they'd be breathing much, either,' he murmured, examining the wound at the side of her forehead. 'Have you been to Pomfrey?'

'No.'

'We need to clean this.' He guided her with his hand on the small of her back into his bathroom. As he ran a flannel under warm water from the tap, he asked, 'So who exactly was it?'

Ginny put the lid of the toilet down and took a seat on it. 'Harding, Bolton and Edwards.'

Draco looked up, shocked. 'But they're Slytherin! Their parents are Death Eaters for Christ's sake.'

Ginny nodded.

'I'll kill them if you like,' he said, seriously, kneeling in front of her.

'That's probably a little excessive, don't you think?'

'Not really,' he growled.

Draco lifted the flannel to her temple, carefully dabbing the damp cloth against the wound. She watched his face as he did it, smiling slightly. If someone had told her when they'd met on the first day back that a month later he'd be tenderly cleaning her injuries, she'd have referred them to a psychiatrist.

He noticed her watching him and caught her eye, 'What?'

'Nothing.'

'Stop it; you're making me feeling uncomfortable.'

'Sorry,' she giggled.

Draco's smile was barely noticeable as he finished cleaning the blood from her temple. He threw the flannel into the sink and sat back on the floor. 'Why didn't you tell them you were with us?'

A frown replaced Ginny's smile as she muttered, 'I don't have to explain myself to them.'

'You're pride is going to get you killed one day,' Draco laughed.

'It's more likely to get someone else killed,' Ginny said, uncertainly.

Draco nodded. 'Probably me.'

He gently laid his wand on each wound in turn, muttering a healing spell.

'Thanks,' Ginny said, quietly.

Draco nodded in reply, then eventually said, 'Just don't let Potter find out about this, or everything will go wrong again.'

'He knows.' Ginny leant her head back against the wall, feeling very tired. 'He's the one who found me.'

Draco looked at her. 'What? Did you tell him what happened?'

Shaking her head, she said slowly, 'He just took me up to Gryffindor common room.'

Draco appeared to be thinking for a moment before he said, 'We'll have to think of a story.'

'I could always say it was you.' She closed her eyes. 'Just to reinforce the fact that we're not friends.'

'You've lost a lot of blood.' Draco frowned, standing up. 'Do you think you'll be able to make it back to your dormitory?'

Ginny groaned. 'Please don't make me walk, I'll just sleep here on the toilet.'

A half smile stretched Draco's mouth a little as he bent down and lifted her up.

'What's going on?' Ginny asked as he carried her into his room, her words slurred and her eyes too heavy to open.

Draco considered laying her on the bed, but then decided he didn't want to have to sleep on the sofa himself, so instead he gently rested her on the green sofa. Taking the silk blanket from the end of his bed, he spread it over her now sleeping form before climbing back into bed.

* * *

It was still dark when Ginny woke up, feeling very uncomfortable. For a moment she didn't know where she was, until she remembered the events of the previous night and realised she had been sleeping on Draco's sofa.

Deciding it was too early to go back to her own dormitory, she tried to get back to sleep, but it was impossible on a sofa that wasn't long or wide enough for her to be comfortable. Seeing that Draco was fast asleep, she crept over and slid into the double bed beside him, pulling the edge of the duvet over herself. Draco had certainly done well for himself at Hogwarts, with his own dormitory and the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. Ginny suspected that his family's money had something to do with it.

* * *

Draco was a very light sleeper, and had woken as soon as Ginny had got into his bed. What the hell did she think she was doing? It was bad enough her intruding in his room, let alone in his bed. He was going to sit up and do something about it but he found he was too sleepy to bother. Whatever, he thought, he'd deal with it in the morning.


	9. You're not as irresistible as you think

Someone poked Ginny hard in the shoulder, dragging her grudgingly into the waking world.

'What do you want from me,' she groaned, eyes closed against the light.

'I want you to get out of my bed,' came the reply.

Ginny opened her eyes to see Draco standing by the bed, showered and dressed, looking down at her disdainfully.

'What time is it?'

'Quarter to seven.'

'What is wrong with you?' Ginny pulled the covers over her head. 'We've got hours until breakfast.'

Draco raised an eyebrow. 'I assumed you'd want to avoid having to walk out of my bedroom in the morning in front of all the Slytherins.'

Damnit, Ginny thought, he made a good point.

'Fine.' Ginny sat up, pushing the covers off her. 'I'm going.'

'Good.'

Just before she left the room, Ginny muttered, 'Thanks for…' she gestured to her head. 'I know it must be hard for you to actually do something nice.'

'What's worse,' Draco asked, smirking, 'knowing that despite all you've said about me being a bastard I helped you, or the fact that you actually needed my help?'

'Goodbye, Malfoy.'

* * *

Draco kept trying to catch Ginny's eye at dinner, but she was deliberately avoiding it. He was beginning to get frustrated. She was sitting with Potter, laughing and flirting. For half a second she caught his eye, but immediately turned back to Harry.

He frowned; how dare she ignore him?

Pansy Parkinson had noticed him not listening to her, and whined, 'Draco, have you even realised I'm talking to you.'

Draco dragged his eyes away from the Gryffindor and focussed on the girl sat next to him.

'Sometimes,' she continued, pouting, 'I think you're only with me for my looks.'

Draco smirked, and channelled his anger into sneering, 'That's ridiculous. I endure you in spite of your looks.'

It took a moment for Pansy to realise what he had said, but when she did she squealed and stood up. 'Then you won't have to put up with me anymore.'

'I can assure you,' Draco turned back to the food that he hadn't even started eating, 'that the only reason I'll notice you've gone is that I'll be able to move without you clinging to me or whining in my ear.'

Blinking back tears, Pansy flounced out of the hall, leaving Draco to brood angrily and throw furious glances at Ginny.

'Christ, Draco, I think that's the fastest you've ever made her cry.' Blaise sounded slightly impressed, although Malfoy knew he didn't approve.

'It wasn't,' Draco stated flatly.

'This Weasley girl's really getting to you, isn't she?' Blaise continued.

Damn, Draco thought, he must have noticed him trying to catch her eye. 'Of course not.'

'Just fuck her,' Blaise suggested crudely. 'It's getting a little boring having you so snappy all the time.'

'I don't want to fuck her,' Draco replied, disdainfully.

'Sure,' Blaise laughed.

'Piss off.'

'Don't take it out on me, it's not my fault you're lusting after some Gryffindor chick.'

Draco was about to reply with a sharp remark, when Ginny stood up and started to pick up her bag. He swiftly did the same, reaching the door of the Great Hall before her as the Slytherin table was closer. He waited for her around the corner at the end of the corridor, grabbing her wrist as she walked past.

Ginny rolled her eyes when she realised who it was. 'Why can't you ever just greet me like a normal person instead of scaring the crap out of me by jumping out at me?'

'Where's the fun in that?'

'Whatever,' Ginny sighed. 'I saw Parkinson running out crying, what did you do to her?'

'Why would you assume it was my fault?'

Ginny raised her eyebrows.

'Oh who cares?' Draco dismissed the subject. 'It's not my fault she's oversensitive.'

'It probably is, because...' Ginny stopped mid-sentence when she heard footsteps. 'Someone's coming.'

Grabbing her arm, Draco dragged her into an empty classroom. 'Why is it my fault?'

'Well,' Ginny leant against the closed door, 'she's oversensitive because she's got low self-esteem, and she has low self-esteem because you treat her like a prostitute, except you don't pay her.'

Draco regarded her sceptically. 'And how do you know I treat her like that?'

'Oh come on, Malfoy,' Ginny laughed. 'Everyone knows you just use her for sex, you don't actually like her.'

Taking a step towards her, Draco argued, 'Isn't it possible that your theory is little confused?'

'In what way?'

'You say she's got low self-esteem because she acts like my personal slut,' he said quietly. 'But have you ever considered that she only acts like my personal slut because she has low self-esteem?'

Ginny found that this was a very complicated sentence to understand when he was this close to her; it was hard to think when he was only inches away and smelling like that. Wait, what?

What the hell was she thinking?

'Well then you're not exactly helping, are you?' she said eventually, forcing those rogue thoughts from her head.

Draco shrugged. 'Maybe not in the long run, but it seems to make her happy for a while,' he then added, 'Plus I don't blame her for wanting me.'

Ginny laughed. 'You're not as irresistible as you think, Draco Malfoy.'

'This coming from the girl who crawled into my bed last night,' Draco smirked.

'I didn't crawl,' Ginny denied indignantly. 'I… I just got in.'

'Oh really?'

'Yes. The sofa wasn't comfortable.'

'Understandable.'

He dipped his head down so their faces were so close she could feel his breaths on her lips. Unconsciously, she tilted her head up a little and her eyes fluttered shut.

'For someone who doesn't think I'm irresistible, you don't seem to be resisting much,' he whispered. She almost felt his smirk a second before he stepped away from her.

'You're such a jerk.' She glared at him.

He just laughed in reply.

'As fun as this is,' Ginny snapped, 'I've got to go and meet Harry.'

'Enjoy your walk with Potter,' Draco replied, sarcastically, his smirk gone.

'Oh, I will,' she smiled slyly.

Draco didn't like that expression on her face. It looked entirely too Slytherin for his comfort.

* * *

'I've missed you, Ginny,' Harry mused as they walked along the banks of the lake. They'd been walking for almost an hour now, talking about unimportant things like lessons and the approaching holidays.

Ginny smiled, looking sideways at him. 'You spent the whole of the summer holidays at my house.'

'Yeah but we didn't talk.'

'And who's fault was that?' Ginny laughed.

Harry looked at his feet, digging his hands into his pockets in an attempt to repel the biting cold. 'Okay, mine, but the point is I'm glad we're talking again.'

'Yeah, same.'

'I'm sorry,' Harry said quietly, 'for being such a twat. I just… I guess thinks are changing so much and things are slipping away - I didn't want you to be one of those things.'

'As if that would ever happen, you'll never get rid of me,' Ginny joked, tucking her hair behind her ears to stop it from being whipped across her face by the wind.

Harry withdrew one of his hands from his pocket and took hers. 'Good.'

'But you're right,' Ginny continued. 'Things have changed. Like in my first year you were "the boy who saved my life" and now you're just "Harry".'

Harry laughed. 'I may be your friend now, but I still saved your life.'

'And I'm very grateful.'

He stopped walking, turning to face her and taking her other hand. Ginny looked up at him, realising that he was going to kiss her. Draco's words of warning rang in her head, 'You were going to kiss him, that wasn't part of the plan… You're getting too close and it has to stop.' 

She was considering stepping away from Harry, until her memory flashed back to a couple of hours earlier with Malfoy in the empty classroom. Smiling at the thought of how annoyed Draco would be if he found out she'd kissed Harry, tilted her head up slightly.

When Harry kissed her, she was surprised to realise that that feeling inside her wasn't joy as she used to get, but victory.


	10. There's been a slight change of plan

Ginny was early to meet Draco in the Room of Requirement, as she'd gone straight there after her walk with Harry. At least this time she had something to tell him – she'd spent an hour walking around the school grounds with Harry, and she was fairly sure she'd succeeded in befriending him again.

And she only felt a little bit guilty about the fact that he was going to die.

Pacing up and down the room, she thought back to the night before. She'd never have expected Draco to act like he had. She still ached from the injuries she'd received, but all the cuts had completely disappeared, leaving only bruises. But then when they'd met after dinner he'd been a jerk again. It had been entertaining, but he was still being a jerk. Sighing, she stopped pacing and rubbed her temples.

Suddenly, a pair of hands were gently placed on her waist, making her yelp in surprise. Whirling around, she found that the hands were attached to – of course – Draco.

'How do you do that so quietly?' she asked, pushing his hands off her.

He chuckled. 'You should really pay more attention to what's going on.'

'It's really creepy, and scares the hell out of me.'

'Which is why I enjoy it so much,' he smirked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Anyway, I have good news. I'm officially friends with Harry again!'

'Potter,' Draco corrected her.

'I meant Potter.'

'How do you know?'

'Well,' Ginny sat on the desk, 'he apologised and kissed me.'

Draco didn't say anything for a moment, but eventually held up a vial of liquid and said, 'I came to give you this.' When Ginny didn't respond, Draco sighed as if she should know what it was. 'It's for your bruises from the other night.'

'Oh,' Ginny smiled, standing up, taking the vial and pulling out the stopper, which made a satisfying popping noise. She eyed the potion suspiciously for a moment before drinking the whole thing in one gulp. Her gaze met Draco's whose face was expressionless but his eyes her watching her carefully. Frowning, she tried to thank him but she suddenly found she didn't have the energy to speak. Her vision began to blur; Draco's face became unfocussed and she could no longer make out his features. As her sight started to darken, her limbs became very heavy and she felt like she was falling. Vaguely aware of a strong arm around her waist, she drifted into unconsciousness.

Ginny was aware of the ticking of a clock before anything else. Groggily, she forced open her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light. She was lying on something soft, which gave way slightly beneath her elbow when she leant her weight on it. She could smell a familiar, delicious aroma. A thin material was draped over her body, which was a deep, rich green silk and slipped off her skin as she lifted herself up.

Suddenly she sat up, realising she was in a bed she'd never seen before, in a room she didn't recognise. Panicking a little, she was surprised to find herself slightly relieved when she caught sight of Draco sitting in an armchair a couple of metres away. He was surveying her silently, leaning back in the chair, wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and an expensive looking white shirt.

'Where the fuck am I?' Ginny demanded.

'Good morning,' Draco replied, dryly. 'You're at Malfoy Manor.'

Ginny suddenly realised where she recognised the aroma from – it was how Draco Malfoy smelt. When she dropped her gaze to the sheet that had fallen off her, she identified the green silk to be Slytherin green. She should have worked it out.

She caught sight of the bruise on her arm that hadn't faded and gasped, 'That was a sleeping potion!'

'Yes.' Draco raised an eyebrow, as if it were a stupid question.

'You tricked me!'

'Yes.'

Ginny studied her surroundings – the room was very large, at least by her standards, with bare stone walls and a rug covering most of the floor. A fireplace was sunk into one of the walls, beneath a gleaming marble mantelpiece which held a clock and a small pot, doubtless filled with floo powder. Beside it was a large wardrobe made of dark wood, scarred with elaborate carvings. The ornate headboard of the bed she was still sitting on was against the middle of the wall opposite the door; to her right were spotless windows taking up most of the wall. Light streamed in from outside, where she could see an expanse of green lawn, scattered with strategically positioned colourful flowerbeds and neatly trimmed hedges. The horizon was marked with the outline of trees, presumably part of acres of woods.

Ginny hugged her knees to her chest, feeling out of place and inadequate in this place which exuded wealth and luxury. Her poor upbringing clashed with the silk sheets and marble mantelpieces. Draco's shirt alone probably cost more than her entire wardrobe. She felt like a tramp in a palace.

'Why did you bring me here?' Ginny asked.

Draco stood up from the chair and strode over the window, facing out to the garden. His upper class demeanour, which had seemed somewhat out of place at Hogwarts, suited this room perfectly. He stood, silhouetted by the bright sunlight, with a casual elegance.

'There's been a slight change of plan,' he eventually said, deliberately not answering the question properly.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. 'What kind of change?'

Draco turned back around to face her, placing a long-fingered hand on the back of the arm chair, and replied, 'The Dark Lord has realised that you've got into the position to bring Potter to him sooner than we predicted. He wants to make the most of you while your family don't know you're on our side.'

Ginny didn't like the sound of that. 'What does that mean for me?'

'It means,' Draco smoothed out a crease in his shirt, 'that you'll be staying here for a while.'

'For how long?'

'Until Potter has returned a couple of…' he paused, as if thinking of a suitable way of saying it, '… friends of the Dark Lord, which they've been keeping in Azkaban.'

'So I'm a hostage now?'

'You could say that.' Draco nodded. 'You won't, however, be kept in the dungeons like most prisoners here, so don't look so mistreated.'

Ginny raised her eyebrows. 'I'm shocked - you're just going to let me roam around?'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Draco smirked, 'my father wanted you be kept down there, but I assured him that wasn't necessary as long as I stayed with you.'

Ginny frowned. 'Malfoy, you do realise that you're doing something that could be considered nice, don't you?'

'Do you want to be locked up?' he snapped. When she shook her head, he added, 'Well shut up then.'

After a short silence, Ginny enquired, 'Why didn't you just tell me the plan, instead of tricking me into taking a sleeping potion?'

'Because I don't trust you. And because I don't believe you trust me.'

'Well you're right.'

'Of course I was.'

There was another silence, before Ginny sighed. 'What do we _do _here?'

After glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece, Draco announced, 'It's time for breakfast now, and after that you start training.'

Ginny looked suspicious. 'What kind of training?'

'I'm going to attempt to turn you into a decent witch.'

**AN: Well I hope that didn't come as too much of a shock. Review and let me know what you think!**


	11. Can we just get on with it?

Ginny was sitting at one end of a long oak table, one foot hooked over the other, her right elbow on the wooden arm of the chair, her chin resting in her hand. Absently, she gazed out of the window at the vast lawn, wondering if anyone actually went in the garden.

She didn't look up when a house elf appeared beside her and began to clear away the plates. Despite the considerable variety of foods offered on the table, she'd barely eaten anything.

'Are you going to stare out of that window all day,' Draco asked, grumpily, 'or are we going to get something done?'

Ginny turned her head sharply to look at Draco and paused before replying, 'Which one involves the least talking to you?'

'You're very rude for a guest,' Draco observed, standing up.

'Technically I'm a hostage.'

'Then shut up and come with me or I'll start treating you like one.'

Ginny rolled her eyes but pushed herself out of the chair to follow him from the room.

He led her out of the dining room into the entrance hall, in which was a grand staircase with an ornate handrail and glittering chandelier. He turned down a corridor then down another, smaller set of stairs made of stone. The staircase was narrow with cold stone walls either side, and lit with torches mounted at intervals. They must have had some kind of spell cast on them, as they lit when they approached and extinguished once they'd passed. Ginny's footsteps made a pattering noise as they descended the stairs wordlessly; Draco's were silent.

This section of the house made Ginny feel even more uneasy than the rest.

Eventually they reached the end of the stairs and Draco pushed open the heavy wooden door that blocked their path. The room on the other side was fairly empty, with only a wooden desk against one wall, a couple of chairs and a bookcase. There were windows on one of the walls, through which light spilled in, gleaming off the stone walls and the parts of the marble floor exposed around the edges of the rug.

While looking out of the window earlier, Ginny had noted that there were steps down to the garden, but hadn't thought about what was underneath the dining room. Now she realised that this was the bottom floor of the manor, but it wasn't nearly big enough to be the only room down there. Draco's comment about his father wanting to keep her in the dungeon resonated in her head and she realised what took up the rest of the bottom floor. Grimacing inwardly, she turned to face Draco.

'I think you need a new interior designer,' she remarked, trying to cover up her uneasiness, but it didn't work.

Draco raised an eyebrow. 'Are you feeling a little uncomfortable, Weasley?'

'Just get on with whatever you're going to do,' she snapped back.

His mouth curled at the edges into a smirk, but he let it drop and instead reached for his wand. Instinctively, Ginny swiftly snatched her own from her pocket, holding it in front of her defensively.

Draco chuckled. 'Relax.'

She considered how impossible it was to do so when Draco was standing in front of her with his wand drawn, but out loud said, 'What are you doing?'

'I'm going to teach you Occlumency.'

Ginny's wand arm dropped to her side and she frowned. 'What the hell is that?'

Draco sighed. 'It's a way of protecting yourself from people using Legilimency.'

'Well that explains everything,' Ginny replied, sarcastically.

After a pause during which Draco appeared to be considering his words, he explained, 'Legilimency is a way of… breaking into your mind. On a basic level that even you should be able to understand, it allows the person to see your thoughts and memories. Occlumency is how you stop them from being able to.'

'Why would anyone want to see my memories?'

'The thing is, Weasley, that it gives people a power over you. They can tell when you're lying; they can use memories against you; they can gain information; they could even plant fake memories in your mind.' He looked down at his wand, rolling it between his fingers. 'You can't afford to be more weak than you already are.'

'I'm not weak,' she asserted, hands clenching.

Draco looked up from his wand, catching her eye and raising an eyebrow. 'You can't control your own emotions, as you are proving now. Not only does this make you a weak, reckless person in general, but it makes you especially susceptible to Legilimency.'

Trying not to prove his point too much, Ginny replied sceptically, 'And… _you're _going to teach me?'

'Yes,' Draco stated. 'My aunt Bellatrix taught me, I'm as good a tutor as any. It's not easy however, Weasley, you'll have to actually try. It'll be good for you. It'll teach you how to control yourself, to cover your emotions instead of displaying them where they can be taken advantage of.'

'Ok, I get it, I'm not as cold as you.' Ginny looked bored. 'Can we just get on with it?'

Draco looked at her for a moment in silence, before nodding and lifting his wand.

'Empty your mind,' he ordered. 'Block me out.'

_What the hell kind of advice is that?_ Ginny thought, annoyed. How can you just empty your mind?

'Legilimens!' Draco barked.

Ginny gasped as memories flitted across her eyes like video clips, so quickly she barely recognised them. Random memories of lessons at ‑­

Hogwarts, meals with her family, blurry memories of her childhood, and then the memories slowed and became slightly more intelligible. The room filled with people looking at her and she was being sorted into Gryffindor; the crowd faded and was replaced by her mother handing her second hand robes; she was waiting to meet Black and turned to see Draco; Hogwarts grounds appeared and Harry was ending their relationship…

She cried out, and she found herself back in the room, a pain in her knees as she seemed to have dropped to the floor. At some point she must have dropped her wand as it was lying on the floor near her.

Lifting her head, she looked at Draco, who was smirking a little, presumably due to the last memory. Anger pumped through her. If there was anything she didn't want Draco to see it was her memories.

'There's no use getting annoyed,' Draco pointed out as Ginny glared at him, 'It'll just make it harder next time.'

Just as she stood up and regained her balanced, he repeated, 'Legilimens!'

Memories flew through her head again, her mind reeling as she tried to decipher them and push Draco from her thoughts. All she could see now was the Room of Requirement, she was arguing with Draco again. Now she was in first year, stammering around Harry. The scene changed yet again and she was with Draco again, the time she thought he was going to kiss him.

She involuntarily had clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out the memories - now she forced them open and attempted to focus on the Draco in the present. But she couldn't see him.

All she could see was the Draco in the memory, and now she could even feel the fluttering in her chest and his breaths on her face.

Angrily she thought about how Draco must be laughing at her for this memory, and concentrated on pushing him out of her mind. Her fists clenched by her side; she could hear her heart thumping as loudly as if it were right next to her ear. Ignoring the memory of his touch on her hand, she searched for the outline of him the present - the memory began to fade and his outline became gradually clearer. She could now see the smirk on his face.

Annoyance and embarrassment coursed through her veins and she had an idea. Closing her eyes against the image of Draco's smirk, she concentrated on the memory of kissing Harry. It was weak at first, and more memories of her and Draco flooded into her mind as he fought back, but she did her best to ignore them.

She was vaguely aware of herself dropping to her hands and knees but she didn't let it put her off. The memory became clearer. She felt his touch on the small of her back and his fingers in her hair…

'STOP!'

The room came rushing back to her sight, leaving her panting on the hard floor, feeling slightly dizzy. With a victorious smile she realised it had been Draco who had yelled at her to stop, and that she'd never heard him shout like that before.

From her position on the floor she looked up to meet his eye. The smirk was gone.

'Well you eventually managed to get me out,' he muttered, looking down at her with disdain. 'But you need a lot of practice. It is possible to force certain memories on the person trying to get into your mind, as you've discovered, but it takes a lot of effort and there are far easier ways of blocking people out.'

The bead of sweat forming on his brow and his short breaths told her that he'd put more effort than he was letting on into fighting her.

'At least now you understand what a powerful weapon memories can be,' he murmured, before turning and striding from the room, leaving Ginny kneeling on the floor alone.

Draco tapped the door handle with his wand, non-verbally locking the door from the outside, and began to make his way up the spiralling stairs. Fuming, he stormed to his room. Deciding to leave Ginny to stew for a while, he took the opportunity to write an important letter.

**AN: There are about five chapters left, and I've written most of them, so I'll be updating regularly. Please review, it's the only feedback I get!**


	12. Alright, Potter, no need to cry

Harry sat by the fire in the common room, the letter he'd received that morning by owl held in his fidgeting hand. He glanced at the clock – 11:55 pm.

To keep his mind off the possible consequences of this meeting, he scanned the letter once more.

"_Mr Harry Potter_

_Be by the Gryffindor Common Room fire at 1am tonight. Come alone, and speak of this to no one, or risk the life of someone close to you._

_I'm sure you know who I'm talking about."_

It must be Ginny, Harry had already worked that out. She hadn't come down at breakfast – which first rang alarm bells in his head – and no one had seen her for the rest of the day. The threat in the letter was enough to keep him from telling a teacher, or even Ron and Hermione, about this meeting.

He assumed whoever wrote the letter would appear in the fire, as Sirius had all that time ago, but he was still surprised when the flames suddenly morphed into a recognisable head.

Of all people, Harry hadn't expected it to be him.

But he should have known.

'Malfoy,' he growled, through gritted teeth.

'Good evening, Potter,' sneered the bodiless head which hovered above the burning logs.

'What do you want?'

'You of all people should know how dangerous it is to speak rudely to someone in control.'

'What have you done to Ginny?' Harry asked, his voice noticeably less demanding than previously.

'Nothing yet.' Draco sighed, sounding bored,.'She's still breathing.'

Harry felt anger boil inside him despite being relieved about this. 'What do you want from me?'

Draco paused before replying, 'I need a favour.'

'Then why did you take Ginny?'

'I thought it would get your attention.'

'Okay, you have my attention.' Harry was finding it hard to keep his voice even, which was made even harder by seeing how Draco's lips were slightly turned up at the edges. 'Tell me what I need to do to get her back.'

'Very well. The thing is, Potter, there are a few things you've taken from us which we need to be returned to us. And by things, I mean people.'

'Oh for fucks sake, Malfoy, stop playing games and tell me what the hell you want.'

'Alright, Potter, no need to cry.'

'I'm not crying you prick.'

Ginny's head had snapped up at the sound of a clicking that sounded distinctly like the locking of a door. No.

That complete twat.

Getting to her feet, she marched over to the door, confirming her suspicions when the door didn't move despite her rattling the doorknob.

He jaw dropped in disbelief. He'd locked her in. Draco Malfoy had actually, physically, genuinely locked her in a room.

Bastard.

Seething, she threw herself down in the wooden chair by the desk, folding her arms across her chest. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Well she wasn't going to shout at him to let her out, that's for sure. She'd just wait. He'd come back eventually.

Hours later, she was still sitting in the chair, which grew more uncomfortable with every passing minute. She had fallen asleep with her head on the desk after a couple of hours – when she woke up it was night time, judging by the fact that it was pitch black outside.

Unable to get back to sleep, she stood up with an irritated sigh. The only other item of furniture in the room was an oak bookcase which held about two dozen leather bound books. Intrigued, she approached them, understanding that they were books about magic from their titles.

She reached for one at eye level called "The Dark Arts: Attack and Defence". It was bound in dark green leather, cracks spider webbed across the cover. Letting the book fall open in her hands, she saw that certain spells had been circled and notes had been added into the margins. The handwriting was familiar, but she didn't know where from. It didn't seem particularly distinctive, so perhaps it was just generic handwriting.

Still reading the book, she returned to the desk. If she was going to be stuck in the room she may as well learn something – these spells might come in useful when Draco eventually unlocked the damn door.

'That's ridiculous!' Harry exclaimed once Draco had told him who he wanted released from Azkaban. He wasn't certain, as he couldn't see anything other than Draco's head, but Harry was fairly sure he shrugged.

'Your choice. I'm sure you can imagine what would happen to the Weasley girl if you decline or try to get her back by any other means.'

Harry held his head in his hands. He knew exactly what Draco meant. His demands were practically impossible but he couldn't leave Ginny with Draco – he knew what he'd do. It's not like he had any morals holding him back.

He should never have let Ginny back into his life.

'I'll leave you to decide,' Draco interrupted Harry's thoughts.

'Wait!' Harry jumped to his feet, unintentionally reaching his hand out towards the fire as if he could hold Draco from leaving.

Draco eyed him condescendingly.

'Just…' Harry said, his voice quiet now. 'Just don't hurt her. If you do…' he left his threat hanging.

'Or what?' Draco sneered.

Harry didn't reply.

'You have a week,' Draco snapped and disappeared.

Draco got to his feet and dusted off dirt from his clothes that wasn't there. He couldn't believe he'd actually knelt on the floor to do that.

Striding away from the fire and towards the door, he shook his head; Potter had been just as pathetic as he'd imagined he would be. Draco had known exactly what the other boy had been thinking the entire way through – how anyone thought he could be a hero when he was so unsubtle with his emotions Draco just couldn't fathom.

He made his way through the house to the stone steps that led down to where he'd left Ginny. He unlocked the door to the room she was shut in and paused with his hand on the half-turned doorknob, wondering what mood she'd be when he opened the door. She may have calmed down from earlier, but it was much more likely that locking her in had just made her even angrier.

'I know you're there Malfoy, you fucking bastard,' came her furious voice from inside.

Draco smiled a little at this, but managed to return to his usual expressionless face before opening the door, not wanting to rile her further.

Although he was tempted to.

'What the hell did you think you were doing?' she demanded. She was sitting on the wooden chair, one foot up on the desk and the other tucked underneath her. In her hands was an open book, more in a pile on the desk. Draco recognised them as the ones which should have been on the shelf. That insane woman was going through his belongings.

Draco looked at her indignantly. 'What do you think _you're _doing?'

'What?' Ginny looked exasperated.

'You read my books.'

'You locked me in a fucking cell.'

'It's not a cell!'

'Oh whatever.' Ginny rolled her eyes. 'It practically has bars on the windows.'

'Just glass, actually,' Draco huffed.

'Well what is it if it's not a cell then?'

'My office.'

Ginny was speechless for a moment, before spluttering, 'You expect me to believe that? Malfoy, it has a desk, a chair and a bookshelf. That does not constitute an office. Not for a Malfoy anyway.'

'Well, it is.'

'Why would you even need an office?' Ginny continued, ignoring him. 'What is it actually for?'

'I told you,' Draco acted as if talking to a child, 'it's my office. Or it used to be anyway. I came here in the holidays to study.' He gestured to the books. 'That's my handwriting you idiot.' He strode over to her and pointed at the book to emphasise his point. 'Okay, it's my handwriting a few years ago, but still.'

Ginny stared at the page. Now she realised why the writing seemed familiar – it was almost identical to the writing on a note he'd once sent her about when to meet him. It was a bit less neat and not in such straight lines, but definitely by the same person. She tossed the book back on the desk. 'Well how was I supposed to know? I didn't take you for someone who'd study in the holidays. I didn't think you'd need it.'

'I didn't,' Draco said, his tone slightly bitter. 'But disobeying my father is just not something you should do.'

'Fine, but you can't blame me for not believing you, this room doesn't exactly live up to the standards of the rest of the house.'

'Yeah well,' Draco muttered. 'Neither did I.'

There was a short silence before Ginny mumbled, 'I still haven't forgiven you, Malfoy.'

'Oh I'm so sorry,' Draco replied sarcastically. 'Anyway, I had to lock you in here, I had things to do.'

'Like what?'

'I've just spoken to Potter.'

Ginny sat up in her seat. 'What did you tell him?'

'I told him what he needs to do to keep you alive,' he said flatly.

'Malfoy…' Ginny looked at him suspiciously. 'If he doesn't do as you say… you won't actually kill me, will you?'

'You won't be harmed.' Draco's tone was far from reassuring. 'I promise.'

'The promise of a Malfoy means nothing.'

'Well then I suppose you'll just have to hope,' Draco snapped back. 'Not that it matters, he'll definitely do it.'

'What makes you so sure?'

'He's a girly idiot who's ruled by his emotions.'

Ginny stood up and picked up a few of the books, returning them to the bookshelf. 'Why do you hate him so much?'

Draco looked at her as if she were an idiot. 'It's my job to hate Potter.'

'No,' Ginny looked at him over her shoulder as she slid the books back into their places, 'it's your job to capture Potter. You seem to actually despise him. In fact I'd say you're taking pleasure out of this.'

'I just hate him, okay?'

Ginny smirked – Draco had noticed that she'd been doing that a lot more often recently – and continued, 'Is that defensiveness in your voice? Are you jealous? Is that it?'

'Jealous?' Draco spat. 'Of that Scarhead? You couldn't be more wrong.'

'Really?' Ginny put the last of the books on the shelf and turned to face him. 'He's got what you want.'

'And what's that?' Draco rolled his eyes.

'Glory, courage, admiration…'

Draco snorted.

'They're fighting for the freedom of wizards and witches everywhere,' she continued, dramatically. 'They're going against the most dangerous wizard alive, and risking their lives for the greater good. I think you want that; you want to know what it's like to have people looking at you in admiration, instead of fear.'

'Shut up, Weasley,' he snarled, taking a few steps towards her.

But Ginny was far from finished. Stepping closer to him, she continued, 'All your life, you've been pushing people around. Those Slytherins that follow you around don't respect you, they fear you. Where will they be if we don't manage this? Where will your loyal servants be then? The difference between you and Harry, is that when Harry fails, everyone will still think of him as a hero.'

'Potter is not a hero! We both know he wouldn't have survived first year if it weren't for Granger and Dumbledore, let alone all his other adventures. He got himself into trouble by making stupid mistakes that anyone with any common sense wouldn't have made. If you-know-who heard you saying things like this, he'd have you killed.'

Ginny made a show of looking around. 'I don't see him here.'

Instead of getting angry, as Ginny had expected, Draco sneered, 'From the way you're talking, I'd say you're the one who wants to be back on Potter's team.'

'No, I don't.' Ginny couldn't think of anything else to say. She hadn't expected this. She forced herself not to move back - he was trying to intimidate her, and she wasn't going to lose this game.

'But we've had this conversation before, haven't we?'

Ginny didn't say anything.

'You want to know what it's like to push people around, don't you?' He laughed. 'You go on at me about how I want to be a hero – whatever. You want to be a villain though.'

'What are you talking about? I am a villain, remember? Remember who I'm working for?'

'But you're not a villain on the inside, are you? You feel guilt. Don't deny it. You want to not care. You want to distance yourself so that you can hurt other people to forget your own pain.' He moved even closer, so they were now just inches apart.

'You're wrong,' Ginny shot back, defiantly. 'I'm not as cruel as you are, Malfoy.'

'But you wish you were.' His gaze dropped to her lips for a second before returning to meet her eyes.

Ginny's heart was beating so fast and hard that she was surprised he couldn't hear it.

His hand lifted to her face; two fingers stroked her jaw line and curled under her chin. 'Stop playing games with me, Ginny, you won't win.'

The shock of hearing him say her first name completely disappeared when his lips were pressed against hers. As they kissed, Draco slid his hands down her arms and took hold of her hands.

'This doesn't change anything,' Ginny whispered against his lips. 'I still hate you.'

Draco span her around and backed her up against the wall, pinning her hands to the stone. He was still so close that she could feel him laugh softly as he said, 'I hate you too.'

He kissed her again, releasing her hands after a while so that he could slide one of his own hands behind her back while the other entangled itself in her hair. Ginny looped her now free arms around his neck.

She broke away suddenly, looking into his eyes which had never been so close and asked, 'Honestly, what will happen to me if Harry doesn't obey you?'

Trailing kisses under her jaw, Draco murmured back, 'You won't like my answer.'

'Lie then.'

He hesitated before saying softly, 'They won't kill you.'

Aware that ironically, this was probably the most honest Draco had ever been with her, Ginny couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily words weren't required as he captured her lips with his once more. All her worries were lost as she stopped thinking, stopped remembering. She succumbed to his touch and all she could feel was him.

Pleased that she'd stopped talking, Draco was pressed so close to her that he could feel her heart beating in her chest.

A flood of something unfamiliar washed through him, an overwhelming feeling that unnerved him enough to step back from Ginny as if she'd given him an electric shock. He stared at her for a moment, her eyes confused and he suspected hurt, although he couldn't be sure. Dropping his hands to his sides, he took another step backwards. Part of him was screaming at him to run while another was demanding to know why he had stopped it.

He whirled around and strode from the room.

**AN: Longest chapter yet! It was originally two chapters, but I couldn't find a good place to split it evenly, so I just made it one long one. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	13. Love is a weakness, I am not weak

Draco was in an extremely bad mood. Not only had he – for reasons he didn't even know – abandoned Ginny the previous night, but he'd also got into something to abandon in the first place.

Okay, that's not true, he did kind of know what had happened, he just didn't like to admit it to himself. It's not like he hadn't got with other girls before – of course he had. But this had been different.

With most girls, even though he'd enjoyed it, some of him was always thinking how to get rid of her afterwards. He didn't get that with Ginny. He'd also experienced something else had never happened with any other girl. A feeling he had never really had before. That was the problem. That and the realisation that, when he lied to her about whether she'd be killed or not, he didn't want her to.

Draco, of all people, knew what a mistake it was to care about someone.

He hadn't spoken to Ginny, or even seen her, since the previous night. After he'd left he had asked a house elf to escort her to her room, but was on his way to meet her at breakfast.

'Why are you obsessed with my garden?' Draco asked as he entered the room, seeing Ginny stare out of the window for the second breakfast in a row.

'What?' Ginny turned her head sharply to look at him. 'Oh, I'm not. I just… I just want to go outside. I've spent the day stuck in a stone office or a bedroom.'

Draco hesitated before sighing, 'Fine, but I'll have to come with you.'

'I'm still a hostage, right?' Ginny smiled, getting to her feet.

'Yeah,' Draco strode over to the glass doors, pushing them open and waiting for Ginny to go through first.

Ginny grinned as she felt the cool breeze on her face. It was a wonderful autumn day – the leaves on the trees has turned various shades of orange and brown and were just beginning to fall. There was a chill in the air and a few clouds in the sky but the sun still threw orange light on the crisp morning.

Draco didn't like walking in the garden. To him, it seemed like a complete waste of time, and in his current mood he especially didn't want to be doing this. But then again, it was probably best to keep Ginny happy at this point.

'Don't you get bored here on your own without about siblings?' Ginny asked, shoving her hands in her pockets.

'No,' Draco replied, 'I'm fine with my own company.'

'Well so am I,' Ginny reasoned, 'but in such a massive house, it seems so empty.'

'You wouldn't understand, you're a Weasley, your house is full to the brim with siblings.' His voice had a mocking undertone, but wasn't as derivative as Ginny had come to expect. In fact, she thought she could just about recognise some humour in it. 'Just because my parents know how to use a contraceptive charm doesn't mean my home is boring.'

Ginny laughed. 'Yeah well, I'm not surprised your parents knew about contraceptive charms after having you, I certainly wouldn't want to risk having another one.' She glanced sideways at him and noted how he had a small smile on his lips.

'Have you ever had a girlfriend, Malfoy?' Ginny enquired. 'I mean a proper girlfriend.'

Draco looked disgusted.

'I'll take that as a no,' Ginny laughed. 'So what do you usually do?'

With a shrug, Draco replied, 'I get with a girl until one of us gets bored.'

'And how often is it the girl who gets bored?'

'Never.'

'I see,' Ginny glanced up at him. 'So you've never loved someone?'

Draco snorted. 'Love is a weakness. I am not weak.'

Ginny nodded, almost sadly. She'd feared as much.

There was a long silence following this, during which Ginny kept her eyes on the ground. It wasn't until they started making their way back towards the Manor that she spoke again.

'You're not going to lock me back in that room, are you?' Ginny asked, unable to keep the dread out of her voice. She hated the idea of being trapped.

'You don't expect me to suffer your presence all day, do you?' Draco sneered.

'Why do you really keep leaving me in there?'

'I'm worried that if I spend too much time with you I'll catch some kind of disease,' Draco retorted, airily.

'Seriously,' Ginny insisted, 'why can't you tell me? I'm supposed to be becoming a Death Eater, after all, so shouldn't have to hide things from me.'

Draco rolled his eyes, 'Just things I have to deal with.'

'Like what?' Ginny pushed. 'What were you doing yesterday, during the day?'

'A couple of my father's friends wanted a word with me,' he sighed.

'Who?'

'Harding, Bolton and Edwards.'

Ginny stopped walking. 'They're the fathers, right? What did they want?'

Irritated, Draco turned to face her but looking over her shoulder instead of into her eyes and answered flippantly, 'Their sons have been in the hospital wing for the past couple of days and they're blaming me for it.'

'Why?'

'Because it was my fault.'

Ginny took extra long strides to catch up with Draco who had started to walk off again. 'What, because of what they did to me? What do you do to them? What did their fathers do to you?'

'What's with all the questions, Weasley?' Draco demanded. 'Why don't you just mind your own business.'

'Well this is kind of my business.'

'I barely did anything. It's fine,' Draco sighed. 'I explained to the three of them what happened and it's all sorted. In fact you should probably expect a few letters of apologies arriving at some point.'

Ginny was too shocked to speak.

'Don't gawp, Weasley, it makes you look even more unattractive than you already are,' Draco snapped.

'Malfoy, you did something nice!' Ginny accused.

'No I didn't.'

'Yes you did!' she exclaimed. 'You can't deny it.'

'I'll deny what I want, now shut up.' Draco tried to ignore her.

Ginny shook her head. 'You did something nice.'

'Right, get back downstairs I'm locking you up.'

'Master Malfoy!'

Draco had been leaving his bedroom when the house elf appeared in the corridor and called his name.

'Yes?' Draco demanded impatiently. He'd been on his way to let Ginny out and as much as he enjoyed antagonising her, he didn't think it was a good idea to leave her locked up for longer than necessary this particular day. It was already eleven at night.

'A letter for you, Master, from one of the guards.' The tiny house elf held up an envelope which Draco took as he walked past.

After opening the envelope and reading the first line, Draco stopped in his tracks. Without turning to the house elf he called to it, 'Put this letter on the desk in my room. After that, go down to my office, unlock the door and ask my guest to wait outside my bedroom.'

He tossed the letter to the house elf, who scurried off to obey the orders, and strode down the corridor.

After waiting ten minutes outside Draco's bedroom, leaning against the wall in an attempt to ease the aching in her legs, Ginny sighed and just went in. Draco wouldn't be happy, but it was his own fault for taking ages.

The room was similar to the room she'd woken up in a couple of days ago – a grand double bed with green silk sheets, a marble fireplace and an expanse of glass on one wall. The main difference, however, was a large oak desk that held stacks of parchment and several quills.

Ginny rolled her eyes at how predictably neat Draco was. Only one piece of parchment looked out of place – just placed on its own in the middle of the desk rather than in neat piles like the others. Intrigued, and unsure of what else to do, Ginny approached the desk. Peering over at the parchment, she realised it was a letter. A sly smile crossed her face when she considered how pissed off Draco would be if he found out she'd read a letter of his.

Her smile vanished instantly when she read the words "Arthur Weasley".

Snatching the parchment off the desk, she scanned the words scrawled on it.

_Master Malfoy,_

_Last night we discovered a certain wizard attempting to break into Malfoy Manor. He refused to leave when we ordered him to, and we were forced to carry out an Avada Kedavra curse on him. He was afterwards identified as Arthur Weasley, the father of your hostage. _

_I suggest you have a word with Potter about this breach of agreement._

_Fraser_

Ginny's hand dropped to her side, the letter slipping from her grip and falling to the floor. She took a couple of steps backwards and sat heavily on the bed, frozen in shock.

'Shit,' she whispered.

'Nice to see you again, Potter.'

Harry jumped at the sarcastic voice of Draco, head whipping around to face the fire which held his head.

'What is it?' he asked, trying to hide his surprise. 'Is she okay?'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Weasley's fine. It's not her I came to talk about.'

'Who then?'

'A different Weasley.'

Harry frowned. 'Ron?'

Draco shook his head, 'I'm sure you'll tell me you didn't know anything about Arthur Weasley paying me a visit?'

Harry's eyes widened – he'd told him not to go, he'd made him promise. 'No! Well, I knew he said he was going to, but I specifically told him not to go.'

'Well he didn't listen.'

Swearing inwardly, Harry's mind reeled with all the possible consequences of his actions. Was Draco going to kill Ginny? Did he kill Arthur? Was he just going to let it go? Draco's face gave nothing away, expressionless as always.

'I'm confused, Potter,' Draco said, conversationally. 'You act like you don't want the girl Weasley to die and then you tell her father about this when I asked you not to.'

'She's still alive?'

After a pause, Draco replied, 'For the moment.'

He watched how Harry's expression showed visible relief, before continuing, 'But I don't see why I should keep her alive. You broke your side of the deal.'

'The deal is ridiculous!' Harry whispered angrily, clearly wanting to shout but not wanting to wake any sleeping Gryffindors.

'I don't care,' Draco snapped. 'If you haven't returned those Death Eaters by Friday I will kill her.'

'I can't do it in that time!' exclaimed Harry. 'You said I could have a week before!'

'That was before you decided to go and spill secrets. You're lucky she's still alive at all.'

'Malfoy,' Potter knelt closer to the fire, 'please give me more time. The Ministry will never give them up that quickly.'

Resisting the urge to pull out of the fire and away from Potter, Draco replied, 'How do I know you won't go crying to someone else. How do I know that no one else will try and get her.'

'I promise.'

Draco laughed. 'I'm going to need something better than that.'

Harry looked at the ground for a moment while he thought, and then proposed, 'Take me instead. Trade me for Ginny. The ministry will give you whoever you want for me.'

Draco fought to keep his expression blank. Was he insane? Did he really think that after getting Potter he would trade him for a couple of Death Eaters? Or was it a trap?

'Potter, you can't expect me to believe that even you are that stupid,' he eventually said. 'You have until Friday.'

'No! Don't leave, Malfoy, you bastard.'

'Next time,' Draco glared at the other boy, 'I will kill her.'

Draco's head disappeared from the fire, and Harry was left alone.

When Draco got back to his room after his talk with Harry Potter, he found Ginny standing outside his room, leaning against the wall. He looked pointedly at the foot she was kicking against the wall frowning at the faint scuff marks her shoes were leaving.

Deciding not to mention it, lifted his eyes back up to meet hers and stated, 'I didn't plan on keeping you locked up all day today.'

Realising that was probably the closest to an apology he would ever give her, Ginny nodded.

'Was this the plan from the beginning?' she asked. 'This fake hostage idea?'

'No,' Draco replied.

Ginny's eyes narrowed, 'I want the truth.'

'Well why didn't you say so in the first place?' Draco feigned surprise before replying: 'Yes of course it was; did you really believe you'd be trusted with something that important so quickly?'

Ginny glared at him as he laughed a little.

'Well as fun as this is,' Ginny snapped, 'I'm going to bed. Is that permitted?'

Usually Draco would have made some suggestive comment at this, but he wasn't in the mood and he suspected she wasn't either. Instead, he just muttered something about not caring and called for a house elf to take her to her room.

'I don't need a fucking escort,' Ginny whispered to him as she left with the elf. 'I'm only two corridors away.'

Draco glared at her, maintaining eye contact until she was forced to turn away and follow the house elf to her room.

**AN: Another long chapter and I hope that cleared up any confusion about the end of the last chapter, I had a few people asking me about it. Over the next couple of days I'll be going over the chapters so far and fixing the speech grammar which someone's pointed out to me, so if anyone has noticed anything else I need to change please let me know. **

**Oh, and the next chapter... well I'm not sure how you'll take it. I like it, but some people might not. We'll see how it goes. Don't forget to review!**


	14. I need you to make me forget

Ginny couldn't sleep. All she could think about was her father, and that bastard Draco, and what a fucking mess she had got herself into. Every day her decision to take revenge seemed more and more stupid. People had always told her she didn't think enough, acted without considering the consequences - she had always been quite proud of her impulsiveness before, but now she realised how idiotic it was.

She crept out of her room, wearing the black knee-length nightie that a house elf had provided for her. She pattered across rug-covered stone floor down the corridor. Emotions tumbled through her head: anger, confusion, guilt, fear, regret… there was only one thing she could think of to take the pain away.

Her breath formed mist in front of her, the moonlight streaming in through the windows sending white streaks across her face. With only her shadow for company, she kept walking.

Down the corridors she crept, until she reached the door to his room. The only thing that would help her forget. Draco Malfoy.

Tentatively, she knocked her knuckles against the wooden door, listening to the rustle of sheets from within the room. After a moment, the door opened to reveal a dazed Draco. His blond hair was tussled, his movements slow, bare-chested and wearing a pair of green flannel trousers.

'Weasley? What the hell are you doing here?' he asked, sleep slurring his words.

'I had to see you,' she replied, squeezing past him into the room.

Draco quietly shut the door, turning to face her, a confused wrinkle between his eyebrows

Desperate to forget the day, Ginny stood on tiptoes, kissing him on the lips. This seemed to wake Draco up, and he stepped back.

'What's going on?'

'Please,' she begged, under her breath, 'please help me forget.'

He didn't hear her, so she said instead seductively, 'I want you, Malfoy.'

Consciousness had now dragged him fully into the waking world, and his normal character had returned. He smirked. 'Who doesn't?'

Ginny smiled inwardly, it was working.

Draco spoke again, 'But it's a shame you can't have me.'

'Oh yeah?' Ginny raised an eyebrow. 'Why not?'

'Well firstly,' he murmured, 'we're working together. Secondly, I don't want to get attached. But most importantly: I don't want you.'

Ginny's eyes narrowed. 'Why not?' she enquired, quietly.

'Not my type.' He shrugged. Unfortunately, his plan had failed. He'd meant to make her storm off, but on the contrary, it just made her more determined.

Reaching up, she moved her lips close to his ear, and whispered, 'That's not was you said yesterday.'

Cursing inwardly, tried to keep his mind off the way her breath was tickling his ear, and hissed, 'That was a mistake.'

With a sly smile, she pushed him gently backwards until he felt the bed on the back of his knees. He sat down heavily on it, taking deep breaths.

Ginny sat on his lap, one leg either side of him, her hands resting on his chest.

'Would you reject any girl who throws herself at you, or is it just me?' she asked.

That's the problem, he thought to himself, you're not just any girl.

Out loud, he replied, 'I can't sleep with you, Weasley.'

She squirmed in his lap.

With a sharp intake of breath, he clenched his fists. Smirking, she leaned in to kiss him, but he turned away again.

'Why won't you react?' she demanded. She'd been counting on being able to get with Draco, at least she'd then be able to forget everything for a few precious moments. She wanted to return to that carelessness she had experienced the previous night - it was the only way she could think of to get rid of the guilt just for a while. 'All I want is a good lay, a meaningless shag.'

Draco hid the hurt in his eyes. 'Go and find someone you can pay for it then,' he snapped, coldly.

'Do I not affect you at all?'

Draco was silent. With admirable restraint, he lifted her off his lap and stood her on the floor in front of him. Getting to his feet, he tried to ignore how little she was wearing, or how the orange light from the burning torch glimmered from her copper strands of hair, or how her eyes glistened, or how her slender legs looked just long enough to fit around his waist…

'I can't sleep with you,' he repeated, firmly.

A glistening tear threatened to spill down her cheek. 'Please, Draco,' she whispered against his chest, 'I need you. I need you to make me forget. To take the pain away.'

Draco clenched his fists. 'Why? What's going on?'

'Just one night, that's all I'm asking.'

'Don't avoid the question; what's going on?' he repeated.

Ginny looked down at the ground. 'Nothing.'

'Don't lie to me, what's happened?' He lifted her head up with a finger under her chin.

'It's none of your business!' She slapped his hand away.

'It is my business!'

'In what way?'

'Because it's upset you!'

'So?' Ginny demanded, tearfully.

'So I don't want you to be upset,' Draco explained, confused.

Ginny laughed bitterly. 'You don't care about anyone. You aren't capable of human emotion.'

'That's not true.'

'Then why won't you let me forget?'

'What is it you want to forget? I don't understand? I… what are you doing?'

Ginny hit at his chest, crying out in frustration. She lashed out at him, punching and kicking, while he tried to block her hits.

'Hit me back you fucking wimp!' she challenged, striking him again.

'No!' Draco frowned, still trying to block her attacks.

Kicking out with her foot at his leg, she yelled, 'Why not?'

'Because you're a girl!' Draco replied, exasperated. He gasped as her fist slammed into the side of his head. His body spun around and he bent double, clutching his head. 'You bitch!'

'So you'll hex me but you haven't got the guts to hit me?' Ginny demanded, hopping from foot to foot, unable to keep still with all the adrenaline rushing through her.

'We're an equal match at magic,' Draco explained, his voiced pained, 'But we both know I'm stronger than you.'

'So what?'

'So it would be unfair for me to hit a girl!'

This time he caught her fist before it came in contact with his face, and gripped it tightly.

'Ha! You're a Death Eater but you think it's wrong to hit a girl? Your logic is fucked up. Scared you might lose?' Ginny taunted, tugging her hand free.

'Of course not!'

'Then fight me!'

'I don't want to hurt you.'

Ginny laughed. 'I'd like to see you try. Not so keen to fight without your wand, are you?'

'This is ridiculous!' Draco spluttered, as he blocked another hit, but drew a sharp breath as Ginny's foot struck his shin. 'I could beat you in a fight with both hands tied behind my back!'

'Then prove it!' Ginny jabbing her fingers into his ribs. She circled him, darting around, never standing still. Draco had to constantly turn to keep up with her.

'I'm not going to hit you!'

'But you want to, don't you?' she goaded. 'Come on, Malfoy, hit me.'

He frowned, but stayed silent.

'Hit me for leading you on.'

Draco didn't react.

'I know you've got a lot of anger inside you, Malfoy.'

'What do you mean?' he growled.

'Pretend I'm your parents, Malfoy, hit me for forcing you into this. Your dad doesn't love you, he doesn't even care about you at all; hit me for that.'

Draco's jaw tightened, his fists clenched.

'Oh, now you're getting angry, aren't you?' Her voice was quieter now.

'Shut up.'

'Pretend I'm Potter, the bane of your life.'

'I don't care about Potter,' Draco snarled.

Ginny laughed again. 'Of course you don't. Then hit me because you want to.'

'I don't want to.'

'Don't lie. You're not happy, you don't have a family that care about you, you don't have a girlfriend – let out your anger on me.' She lowered her voice to whisper. 'Hit me because I kissed Potter.'

He just glared at her.

'HIT ME DAMNIT!'

Suddenly, he slammed her back into the wall, pinning her wrists against the stone. 'Why do you do this, Ginny? Why do you push me? I can't even begin to understand you.'

'Then don't try to.'

'What am I supposed to do? You get annoyed when I'm a jerk, then when I try to be nice you do this?'

She rolled her eyes. 'Oh stop with the psychoanalytical crap!'

Draco stared at her for a few moments, and then swore under his breath. There was a fire in her eyes that made something inside him snap. He glanced down at her lips, then dipped his head and kissed her. Releasing one of her wrists, he slid a hand along her neck, stroking her jaw with his thumb with tenderness so unlike him that it broke her defences.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock, but slowly closed as all the anger in her melted away. She allowed tears to spill silently down her cheeks. Draco felt them against his skin and pulled away.

'What's wrong?' he whispered.

'I know what happened, Malfoy,' Ginny sniffed. 'I read the letter on your desk.'

Draco stepped back, his mind reeling from all the sudden mood changes. 'Shit.'

'Death Eaters killed him,' she replied, her voice a monotone.

'But… but you hate your parents.'

'Yes. But he's still my dad. And he died because he tried to come here to rescue me. He's dead…' She leant her head against his chest. 'And it's my fault.'

He didn't know what to say. At least he understood her anger now. Pulling her toward him, he wrapped his arms around her.

'It's not your fault,' he whispered.

**AN: I'm not sure what your reaction to this will be but here it is anyway!**


	15. Would you let me die?

To say it had been awkward the next day would be an understatement. Draco had kept out of Ginny's way most of the day, leaving her to wander in her room or in the library. Obviously he had a house elf keep an eye on her – Malfoy Manor wasn't somewhere that just anyone could look around.

In fact it wasn't until dinner that he spoke to her again. The room was silent save the sound of the pouring rain outside. They were sitting at either ends of the wooden table, Ginny staring out of the window as usual, and Draco had noticed she'd hardly touched her food.

'You should probably eat some of that,' he suggested.

'I'm not hungry,' came the reply in a monotone.

Draco rubbed his temples with his fingertips and asked, 'Are you… are you feeling better today?'

Ginny finally turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. 'That was actually difficult for you to say, wasn't it?'

Draco didn't reply.

A bright light flickered across her face from a flash of lightning outside. A moment later it was followed by the growling of thunder. Ginny stood up, taking a step towards the door. Draco noticed a look of longing in her eyes as she watched the pouring rain.

'Don't tell me you actually want to go outside in that,' Draco said uncertainly.

Ginny's reply was to move to the door, pushing down the handle and throwing it open. The room was filled with the loud noise of raindrops hitting the ground. She stuck her hand out of the door; water splashed against her hand, rebounding in tiny droplets.

'How could you not?' Ginny enquired, watching as Draco approached her. 'Want to come?'

Draco wrinkled his nose and replied sceptically, 'But I'll get… wet.'

Laughing, she responded, 'It's likely.'

Just as another flash of lightening lit up the sky, Ginny grabbed Draco's wrist and pulled him through the door after her.

Draco gasped as he was dragged into the wall of rain; the freezing water stung his arms and face, running into his collar and down his back. He lifted his head up. It was raining so much that it the falling water was almost solid but he could just about distinguish the outline of Ginny dashing down the steps towards the lawn.

He ran after her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around when he reached her.

'Are you insane?' he yelled indignantly over the roar of the rain and thunder.

As she whirled to face him her drenched hair whipped around and a few strands were strewn across her cheek, held there by the water. While she wiped them off her face, she looked up at him, mouth grinning and eyes gleaming. 'Doesn't it feel great?'

'No it does not!' he snapped back, blinking water from his eyes. He pushed back his fringe which had been flattened against his forehead and into his eyes by the rain and looked down at himself. His white shirt was made almost transparent by the rain and was sticking to his skin. The jeans he wore were now dark and heavy with rain, rubbing against his legs every time he moved. 'I look a mess!'

'So do I,' Ginny exclaimed happily. 'Wonderful isn't it?'

Draco looked at her as if she was insane. She _was _insane. Who in their right mind would enjoy this? He was cold, wet and dishevelled.

She did look happier than he'd seen her in a long time, though.

He suddenly realised he was still holding her wrist and released it hurriedly. She span around, her laughter barely audible, arms spread wide and face lifted to the sky.

When she stopped spinning, she faced him again, strands of hair spread across her face. Another flash of lightning filled the sky, its light gleaming off her wet face and glimmering in her eyes.

Stepping towards her, Draco lifted a hand, wiping the hair off her face and letting it rest on her cheek. He gently tilted her head up slightly.

'You're not going to get scared and run off like the night before last, are you Malfoy?'

'You don't understand,' Draco told her.

Ginny shook her head. 'You're just a coward.'

'I'm not a coward,' he growled.

'Love isn't a weakness, Malfoy,' Ginny's voice was certain. 'It's a strength.'

'In what way does it make you strong?' he demanded. Lightning flashed again, but this time he was so close to her that his head cast a brief shadow over her face.

'It makes you do good things.'

'Your father died because he loved you,' Draco said defiantly. 'How can you claim that was a good thing?' He felt her jaw tighten beneath his palm.

'At least he tried.'

Draco stared down at her, his thumb stroking her jaw line.

'Would you try, Malfoy?' she asked quietly. 'Or would you let me die?'

Instead of answering, Draco dipped his head and kissed her, just as more thunder grumbled from above them. Her lips were cool from the rain. He slid one hand along her neck and held it at the back of her head while the other moved over her waist.

Ginny's hands ran through his hair, making him shiver, then rested at the nape of his neck.

As he spread his hand out at the small of her back and leant her backwards a little, Draco came to the uneasy realisation that yes, he would try.

They had stayed there for quite a while, until Draco felt Ginny shivering from the cold and made her return to the warmth of the house. He had ordered a house elf to bring them both towels and wrapped Ginny in one. The same house elf had also brought him a letter, which he took with a frown.

'I'll be back in a moment,' he told Ginny, who was performing a drying spell on her hair, and made his way into the next room to read the letter.

He'd never have guessed Potter was this stupid.

The letter was from one of the guards again – they had found Harry Potter trying to get into the Manor, and, realising who it was, they had knocked him out and taken him to the dungeons.

The idiot had done his job for him.

After changing into different clothes and drying his hair, Draco returned to Ginny, a bundle of clothes for her in his arms. He warned her that they would be too big for her, but she didn't seem to mind.

She paused, looking at him for a moment, until eventually saying, 'Well turn around then.'

Draco realised why she'd been waiting and did so, feeling stupid. He hated feeling stupid.

'We had a visitor while we were in the garden,' he informed her, studying the wall. She didn't reply so he continued, 'It was Potter. He's in the dungeons now.'

'I'm done,' she murmured.

Draco turned back around to see Ginny dressed in his clothes with an unreadable expression on her face. The buttoned up shirt made her seem tiny; the sleeves, rolled up to the elbow as he usually wore them, still almost reached her wrists. The jeans he'd provided were obviously going to be far too big for her, so she hadn't even bothered with them, although the shirt came to half way down her thighs anyway.

She set about drying her own jeans with a drying spell and said, 'What are you going to… do to him?'

'Nothing. I'll inform the Dark Lord and keep Potter down there until he arrives. We've done what we were asked to.'

Ginny nodded.

'But first I'm going to have a word with him,' Draco made his way to the door, 'and after that you're going to have to join him. You're supposed to be a prisoner, after all.'

**AN: Thanks for everyone who's reviewed! Sorry this chapter was quite short. It's very near the end now it's making me quite sad. Thanks for reading.**


	16. Come to gloat, have you Malfoy?

'You could have just rung the doorbell.'

Harry looked up at the boy who had just walked in, his fists automatically clenching at his sides.

Draco shut the door behind him, eying the metal chain that coiled on the ground, one end attached to a hook in the wall and the other clamped around Harry's wrist like a thick iron bracelet. He smirked.

'Come to gloat, have you Malfoy?' Harry snapped from where he sat on the floor, leaning back against the stone wall.

Draco raised his eyebrows. 'To be honest I don't think it's really necessary, considering your situation.'

'Where's Ginny?'

Instead of replying, Draco asked, 'Did you have an ulterior motive for trying to break into the Manor or are you really just as stupid as you look?'

'Where's Ginny?' Harry growled again.

Inspecting his nails, Draco's tone was bored when he replied, 'Waiting in the next cell.'

'Waiting for what?'

He looked up and caught Harry's eye, a smirk spreading his lips. 'That depends.'

'On what?'

'On you.'

Harry glared at him.

'Well?' Draco looked at him expectantly. 'Is this part of some undoubtedly ridiculous plan or are you really arrogant enough to think you would succeed in what Arthur Weasley didn't?'

Harry looked at the ground. 'The ministry wouldn't trade the Death Eaters for Ginny. Apparently she isn't important enough to do an exchange or even attempt to rescue her.'

'Well, she isn't.' Draco began to pace slowly up and down the length of the room.

'But I am.'

Draco stopped pacing and looked sideways at Harry, frowning. 'You deliberately got caught?'

'Well,' Harry shrugged, 'it would have been a bonus not to get caught, but either way my plan works.'

'So let me get this straight,' Draco frowned, 'you came here because you think that if it's you I have then the ministry will be forced to do something about it?'

Harry nodded. 'They'll save Ginny if I'm here too.'

At this, Draco burst out laughing, bringing his hand to his mouth and leaning back against the wall. 'You really think we're going to trade you for some Death Eaters? You are very entertaining, Potter, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you now.'

'What about Ginny?'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Fine, I'll bring her in here as long as you don't try to get out with some other… genius plan.' He seemed to be trying not to laugh but didn't succeed. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a wand.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he recognised his own wand in the hand of his enemy.

'I suppose that isn't really necessary.' Draco pointed the wand at Harry, who flinched instinctively. There was a loud crack followed by the sound of metal clattering to the floor and a weight was taken off Harry's wrist. Opening his eyes, he saw that the metal band that had been clamped around his wrist and attached to the chain was lying in pieces on the floor, smoking lightly. He looked back up at Draco, who was smirking.

Draco lifted the wand up and inspecting it, eventually commenting, 'And I suppose this isn't really necessary anymore, either,' before snapping the wand in half.

Harry's eyes widened as he watched his wand being splintered, cringing at the sound and feeling like he had lost a friend. Dragging his gaze up to meet Draco's sneering face, he could do nothing except seethe silently while his captor strode victoriously from the room.

When Draco finally returned to where Ginny was sitting across an armchair, her back against one arm and her legs dangling over the other, she was wearing her now dry jeans but was still wearing Draco's shirt.

'I understand the armchair doesn't come with a diagram,' Draco commented dryly, 'but I assumed it would be pretty self-explanatory.'

'You are hilarious,' Ginny remarked sarcastically, swinging her legs around into the conventional position before getting to her feet. 'Are you going to lock me up with him now?'

Draco looked down at her. 'He thinks that the ministry will come and save you now he's here too.'

'He is so stupid,' Ginny whispered. 'He never thinks about the consequences.'

Draco half smiled. 'That's pretty ironic coming from you.'

'Whatever, boring boy, would you have preferred it if I hadn't joined the Dark Lord?' She looked up at him with a playful smile.

'I'd rather you went to annoy Potter instead of me.' Draco stepped away from her towards the door.

'I reckon you avoid more questions than you answer,' Ginny grumbled as he led her down to the dungeons.

'I reckon you ask far too many questions.'

Ginny waited for Draco to retrieve his wand and unlock the door.

He hesitated, wand poised aiming at the lock, and murmured, 'Remember: you don't have to be nice to him anymore, you can treat him like the twat he is.'

'I'll bear that in mind.'

'I need your wand,' he sounded almost guilty.

'What?' Ginny exclaimed. 'No!'

'Keep your voice down, idiot,' he snapped. 'If you don't give it to me, I'm not letting you in.'

Ginny glared at him. 'You think I'm going to try and help him escape, don't you?'

'No.'

'Liar.'

Draco held her gaze in silence for a moment, before repeating in a monotone, 'I need your wand.'

'Fine.' Ginny thrust it into his free hand and he tucked it into his pocket. Her voice was flat as she asked, 'So what's going to happen?'

'The Dark Lord and undoubtedly a few Death Eaters will apparate here soon and…'

'Apparate?' Ginny interrupted him. 'I thought that wasn't possible in the grounds?'

Draco seemed to think before replying, 'There is a small area that isn't protected, the strip of land just inside the woods at the end of the garden, for emergencies. But you would have to know exactly where it was to apparate there.'

Ginny suspected he was telling her this to make up for not trusting her with her wand.

'They'll have Harry,' Ginny began quietly, 'so they'll let me go, right?'

Draco nodded slowly.

As he unlocked the door, he assured her, 'I'll be back soon.'

'I'll miss you,' Ginny said sarcastically muttered, going into the room and glancing back at him once before the door was shut and locked.

Ginny sat in silence, after enduring Harry's joyful greeting and assurances, trying to make a decision.

Over the last few days she had spent a lot of time locked up in silence, and during that time she had come to the conclusion that there were several types of decisions.

First, there were decisions that were reached after considering evidence, facts, moral principles and possible consequences, like the decision that Draco wasn't as much of a twat as he seemed.

Then there were decisions that begin as ideas or desires, which seem more and more intelligent and possible the more they are thought about. These are generally unwise, and are heavily influenced by emotions and recent events. An example of this kind of decision is her revenge on everyone by joining the Dark Lord.

Of course, there are random, split second decisions like which piece of pasta to eat first, which require minimal if any thinking and rarely have severe consequences.

The first of these types of decisions is the most difficult to make, and – although Ginny seemed bad at making all of them well – these were the ones she avoided the most. Unfortunately, it was one of these decisions that she now faced.

Glancing up at Harry, she made her decision.

**AN: There are just 2 more chapters to go! I don't think the next chapter will be up tomorrow, as I'm spending the day in London and seeing the Dark Knight at the imax (excitement excitement excitement)! In the meantime, why not decide what you think will - or what you think should - happen? A prize for whoever gets the closest (the prize is pride). **


	17. I trusted you

**AN: I've written two endings to this story. This first one is how I imagined this story to end, but I know some of you won't like it, so I've written an alternative ending which is the next chapter. I also wrote a third version but I'll tell you about that one at the very end. I hope you enjoy at least one of these two! Sorry for the huge length of them.**

**(The parts in italics are quotes from earlier in the story)**

'Harry,' she said, quietly, 'we need to get out of here.'

He shook his head. 'No, I'm not risking you getting hurt.'

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'What do you suggest we do then?'

'Wait for the backup plan.'

'Which is?'

'They'll trade the Death Eaters they wanted from Azkaban for you.'

'No, we need to leave now,' Ginny insisted. 'We can get out if we try. Even if I die then that's better than letting him have his Death Eaters back,' she paused, then added, 'If you don't agree, I'll just go by myself anyway.'

Harry looked up at her. 'What? Are you insane?'

Ginny shrugged.

'Trust me,' Harry assured her, 'my way's much better.'

Ginny raised an eyebrow. 'Harry, he's not going to trade you for a couple of Death Eaters. Me maybe, but not you.'

Harry didn't reply.

Suddenly, Ginny slapped herself hard in the face.

'What the hell are you doing?' Harry asked, as she started yelling and hitting herself.

'Harry! Get away from me!' she screamed. 'Get off!'

'Ginny, stop it!' Harry tried to stop her, grabbing her wrist and forcing a hand over her mouth. 'What are you playing at?'

There was a click and the door burst open. Harry turned his head to see Draco at the door, furious.

'Potter, what are you – FUCK'

Ginny had kicked him between the legs before he could react. He swayed and fell to the floor, his wand slipping from his hand and rolling out of his reach.

Just before leaving, Ginny noticed that in his rush to get his wand, Draco had retrieved hers from his pocket instead of his own, and it was her wand now rolling along the floor.

Draco swore as she grabbed her wand and disappeared out of the door; he reached out to grab Harry's ankle as he passed but he dodged him.

Draco grappled for his own wand, ignoring the injury from Ginny and the searing pain that spread out from his knee from where he hit the stone floor. Once he had the wand clutched in his hand, he scrambled to his feet and sprinted through the door after the other two.

'Nice one,' Harry grabbed Ginny's arm when he caught up with her at the top of the stairs, turning her to face him, 'now he'll just kill us both.'

'At least we're out of there,' Ginny smiled, glancing around.

'Yeah, great,' Harry said, sarcastically, 'now what? I have no idea where to go. Maybe left?'

'Shut up Harry,' Ginny snapped, dashing through the hall towards the dining room, where she knew the doors to the garden were, 'for once just let someone else who knows better make the decisions.'

The sound of heavy footsteps echoing from the steps grew louder and stopped. Ginny and Harry turned their heads simultaneously to see Draco appear in the archway at the opening of the corridor, glaring at them.

'Shit,' Ginny muttered, grasping Harry's wrist and tugging him through to the dining room.

'Where are we going?' Harry asked, looking back at the man chasing after them. 'The front door is that way!'

'You think it's not guarded?' Ginny replied, shoving him through the French doors and down the steps to the garden, shooting various spells at Draco to try and slow him down. 'Keep running!'

Harry did as he was told, running blindly through the garden, dodging flowerbeds jumping over hedges. He could see Ginny running beside her, and hear her and Draco shouting spells at each other.

Suddenly, he felt as if an invisible hand wrapped around his ankle and caused him to plummet towards the ground. Then a hidden blade sliced down his back, causing him to yell out in pain. A couple of Draco's spells had hit him.

Ginny noticed this and skidded to a stop, whirling around, out of breath and trying to stop herself from shaking. She could see the fury in Draco's face. His eyes had darkened, his jaw and fists clenched, his race a little red from running.

'You're going to pay for that,' he growled, taking a step towards her.

Harry struggled to lift himself on his knees, and shouted to Draco, 'Don't even think about touching her.'

'And you are going to stop me, are you?' Draco sneered.

Ginny looked around. They were standing a right by the woods at the end of the garden. She knew she was in the place she could apparate from, but she wasn't so sure about Harry. Besides, she would have to be touching him, and she didn't want to make any sudden movements with Draco so close.

'Malfoy, come with us,' Ginny suggested, gently, 'I don't want to leave you here. I know you want to get out.'

Draco was standing opposite her, glaring back at her, his gaze every bit as angry as before. Harry was still sprawled on the floor, frowning in confusion.

'Ginny, what the hell's going on?' he asked.

Looking down at him, Ginny noticed the thin gash on Harry's back which was oozing blood.

'You didn't need to hurt him,' Ginny accused, wanting to heal the wound but thinking it unwise to raise her wand at that moment.

'What was I supposed to do, just let you get away?'

Ginny didn't reply.

'What was your plan?' he asked, 'What were you going to do after you helped Potter? Didn't you realise that every Death Eater in England would be after you?'

Biting her lip, Ginny glanced over at Harry, who was still slumped in the grass a metre away from her, staring back with a bewildered expression on his face. He started to sit up.

Draco swung up his wand, aiming it right between Harry's eyes, 'Don't move, Potter.'

Ginny took a step towards him. 'Put your wand down.'

'Don't tell me what to do, Weasley,' Draco snapped.

The silver moonlight glinted in his stormy grey eyes, which stared back at her.

'Draco, I-'

'How long had you been planning it?' Draco interrupted. 'Was it a spur of the moment thing? Did you decide in the last couple of days? Or were you a spy from the beginning?'

'No! I didn't plan to betray you. I didn't mean to hurt you.'

'Oh don't flatter yourself. You couldn't hurt me if you tried.'

She remembered what he'd said during their first big argument, _"I don't care enough about you for this to mean anything anyway," _he had sneered.

'If I didn't hurt you, then why are you angry?' she asked, quietly.

'Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're a traitor?' he spat. 'And risked _my_ life to save _him_.'

'_If you are thinking about backing out of this, Weasley, then you may as well just kill me now.' _

Ginny was silent.

'I'm angry because you stabbed me in the back,' he muttered.

'I thought you never trusted anyone,' she breathed.

"_Because I don't trust you. And because I don't believe you trust me."_

Draco whispered, 'I trusted you.'

His fingers tightened around his wand, his knuckles turning white. Draco was startled to find Ginny's own wand directed at his chest. He smirked, one eyebrow raised. 'What are you doing?'

'If you hurt Harry, I will kill you,' Ginny stated, calmly.

'Don't be ridiculous, you'd be killed.'

'So be it.'

'You're willing to risk your life to save Potter's?'

'He saved my life, so I'm returning the favour. I'd rather die than see Harry dead.'

Ginny wasn't sure, but she thought she'd seen a look of hurt in Draco's eyes before he'd replaced it with and unfeeling stare.

'That's not what you said two months ago.'

For the first time in the conversation, Harry spoke, making the two jump, 'What does he mean, Ginny?'

Not taking his eyes off Ginny, Draco replied, 'Your precious Ginny was working for the Dark Lord all this time. The only reason she befriended you again was to trick you into coming here to meet your good friend You-Know-Who.'

Harry looked up at Ginny, his eyes pleading for it not to be true.

When Ginny spoke, she couldn't look at him. 'I'm sorry, Harry, it's true. I wanted revenge. But then I became friends with you again. I thought a lot more about it… well… I realised that it was stupid.'

Laughing, Draco said, 'Death Eater to Potter-Worshipper, as easily as that?'

Ginny met his eye. 'I realised I wasn't cold-hearted enough.'

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"_But you're not a villain on the inside, are you? You feel guilt. Don't deny it. You want to not care. You want to distance yourself so that you can hurt other people to forget your own pain."_

"_You're wrong," _Ginny had shot back, defiantly_, "I'm not as cruel as you are, Malfoy."_

"_But you wish you were."_

'You,' Ginny snapped, 'are perfect for the job though. It's just a shame that after tonight you'll be too dead to take after your father and become Voldemort's right hand man.'

Draco snarled, 'I am not like my father.

Ginny laughed, humourlessly. 'Aren't you? You're a murdering, heartless Death Eater, just like him.'

She noticed his jaw clench.

'I have no choice,' he murmured, 'and if you hadn't noticed, you're just as bad as I am.'

"_I hate to break it to you, Weasley, but you're on my side."_

"'_I may be 'on your side', but I don't have to like you."_

'I'm not nearly as bad as you.'

'At least I've never betrayed a friend.'

'I couldn't do it, remember? I couldn't betray Harry.'

'I'm not talking about Potter.'

Ginny blinked.

'The Dark Lord is going to be here soon,' Draco stated. 'So what's it going to be? Are you going to die for him?'

'I thought he didn't want him dead?'

"_He wants him alive, Malfoy, got it? If you get carried away with your wand, I'll have you carried away in a coffin," _she remembered Black saying in that office so long ago.

Shaking his head, Draco replied, 'He's going to cut the foreplay and just kill him. He doesn't want to risk losing him again.'

'Then our whole mission was pointless.'

'Only because you decided to get a conscience. Don't you think Potter would do the same to me if he had the chance? It's not like this isn't a two sided war.'

Ginny took a deep breath. The air tasted of freshly cut grass. She tried to appear calm though she was shaking on the inside and her heartbeats were stumbling over each other.

'I warned you not to get too close. I tried to stop you,' Draco said, almost sadly.

"_You're getting attached to him, and it needs to stop."_

"_I am not!"_

'This isn't because of Harry,' Ginny insisted.

'I should have known you were too weak for this.'

"_No, you're weak because you allow yourself to feel, which leads to getting hurt."_

'I told you, Draco, I'm not doing this for Harry, I'm doing it because it's what's right.'

Draco's smirked, 'You're so naïve.'

'I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to,' she eventually said.

'You couldn't kill me,' Draco claimed.

'Are you going to take that risk?'

Draco paused, before replying, 'There is no risk.'

'What?'

'If I let you go, I'll die, if I don't let you go, I'll die. I can't win.'

'Well maybe you should think about someone else's life for once, not just your own,' Ginny demanded.

'What do you think I've been doing all this time?' he shouted, eyes flashing. 'Don't you dare accuse me of not thinking about the lives of others!'

'If you're going to die anyway, why kill Harry? See? You're not thinking of anyone else's life.'

Stung by the indifference in her tone, Draco replied, 'It's not only Potter's life in danger, is it? Do you really think the Dark Lord would only kill me if I failed?'

Ginny whispered, 'What do you mean?'

'My mother,' Draco dropped his wand to his side. 'She'll be killed if I fail this. Do you see now that Potter has to die?'

'It's not Harry's fault your family is in danger. You should never have become a Death Eater.'

Draco laughed humourlessly. 'Have you met my father? It's not as if I joined him willingly, unlike you.'

'Do you think killing Harry will end it? If the Dark Lord wins then it'll only mean more suffering for you and everyone. Come with us, you could be protected,' she assured him.

'What's the point? It's not as if I have a lot to live for. My family would abandon me and I'd spend my life hiding from the Dark Lord. I'd rather die.'

'Don't be stupid, you have everything to live for…there must be something that you want to stay alive for,' Ginny argued, scared by the dead expression in his eyes.

'There was, but then you chose Potter instead of me.'

Ginny was too shocked to speak.

"_Love is a weakness. I am not weak."_

She took a step towards him and said, 'No, Draco, I didn't choose him over you. I chose his side over Voldemort's.'

Draco glared back at her, completely still, trying to keep all the emotions crashing around inside him from showing on his face.

'Draco, I'm trying to do what's right, but that doesn't mean I don't love you.'

Noises came from behind them; Draco whipped around to see Voldemort and two of his hooded Death Eaters had appeared behind him.

'Malfoy,' said the high pitched voice of Voldemort, 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Why is this scum out here and not locked up?' He indicated towards Harry.

Ginny whirled around to see his dark, imposing outline, silhouetted by the moonlight. Half a dozen men stood beside him, black robed, masked and threatening. She squinted, just able to make out Voldemort's slitted eyes and deep frown lines, like cracks in his face. Ginny had signed herself up to help him. She felt sick.

Draco turned to face him. 'He got out.'

'Get out of the way so I can kill him.'

'No.'

Voldemort laughed, 'I'd be careful how you speak to me if I were you. Now move, before I kill you too.'

'No.'

Ginny stared wide eyed at the scene unfolding before her. Voldemort seemed so angry he was practically radiating fury.

'How dare you look upon me without fear?' he demanded.

'I have endured pain and welcome death. I have nothing to fear,' Draco stated, his voice quiet but clear in the night. Staring at his opponent, he stated the words 'Adada Kedavra.' Behind those two words, he put the force of all the loathing in his body, his pain filled childhood, the knowledge that his only companion had been the cold comfort of hatred and pride. Every smile he'd missed out on, every stolen laugh, every day spent alone, every tear shed, the loss of the fleeting joy of love, he could trace back to Voldemort. With the strength of a lifetime's pain, Draco's spell hit Voldemort's chest, sending him wide-eyed to the ground.

Moments after seeing Voldemort drop lifeless, two killing curses shot at Draco. He sank to the floor. The last conscious thought that swam through ‑­

his mind before his life left him, was that Ginny had grabbed Harry's hand and disappeared.

Ginny dashed towards Hogwarts from where she'd apparated, dragging Harry behind her. Stumbling blurry eyed across the grounds, she made it inside the entrance hall before dropping to her knees, releasing Harry's hand. Sounds blurred around her and all she could hear was her wand clattering to the floor, the noise echoing around the stone room.

It was only when she buried her face in her hands that she realised tears were spilling down her cheeks. She was vaguely aware of someone calling her name, the sound distant and insignificant. Hands gripped her waist and lifted her to her feet. She pulled her own hands from her face; orange light from the torches glimmered off the tears that had been smeared on her palms. It was Harry who had helped her up, allowing her to lean on him. She pushed herself away from him, standing on her own now, aware of footsteps and shouting.

She shut her eyes tight, wanting to get out of this world and return to the one where she was dancing in the rain with Draco. But with her eyes clamped shut all she could see was him falling to the ground, as if a video of it was playing on her eyelids. Dragging them open again, unable to watch, she saw McGonagall ushering them, and allowed Harry to lead her through the school corridors and up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

There, she explained her whole story. The least she could do was get Draco Malfoy recognised as the hero he was.

In the month that followed, Ginny wanted to do nothing but hide in the Room of Requirement. Everyone was having parties and celebrating the death of Voldemort while she felt they should all be mourning Draco. Her family had forgiven her, but she still felt cripplingly responsible for the deaths of her father and Draco.

It was only until the end of the month that something happened to make Ginny feel better. She had been sitting by the lake when Blaise Zabini had approached her with several pieces of parchment.

'I think it's time you read these,' was all he had quietly said before leaving her alone with them.

After seeing the parchment was covered in Draco's handwriting, she had just left them beside her for a few minutes, not wanting to look at it. Eventually she managed to read them.

They were letters he had sent to Blaise while she had been at Manor. She didn't have Blaise's replies, but she still managed to understand.

The sentence that stuck out to her most was: '_The problem is, Blaise, that I do love her.'_

It was then that Ginny decided, with a smile at the cliché, that it was better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.

**AN: That was how I wanted to end it. The next chapter is the alternative, most of it's the same except the very end.**


	18. Alternative Ending

**AN: It's different from the line onwards.**

**AN: I've written two endings to this story. This first one is how I imagined this story to end, but I know some of you won't like it, so I've written an alternative ending which is the next chapter. I also wrote a third version but I'll tell you about that one at the very end. I hope you enjoy at least one of these two! Sorry for the huge length of them.**

**(The parts in italics are quotes from earlier in the story)**

'Harry,' she said, quietly, 'we need to get out of here.'

He shook his head. 'No, I'm not risking you getting hurt.'

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'What do you suggest we do then?'

'Wait for the backup plan.'

'Which is?'

'They'll trade the Death Eaters they wanted from Azkaban for you.'

'No, we need to leave now,' Ginny insisted. 'We can get out if we try. Even if I die then that's better than letting him have his Death Eaters back,' she paused, then added, 'If you don't agree, I'll just go by myself anyway.'

Harry looked up at her. 'What? Are you insane?'

Ginny shrugged.

'Trust me,' Harry assured her, 'my way's much better.'

Ginny raised an eyebrow. 'Harry, he's not going to trade you for a couple of Death Eaters. Me maybe, but not you.'

Harry didn't reply.

Suddenly, Ginny slapped herself hard in the face.

'What the hell are you doing?' Harry asked, as she started yelling and hitting herself.

'Harry! Get away from me!' she screamed. 'Get off!'

'Ginny, stop it!' Harry tried to stop her, grabbing her wrist and forcing a hand over her mouth. 'What are you playing at?'

There was a click and the door burst open. Harry turned his head to see Draco at the door, furious.

'Potter, what are you – FUCK'

Ginny had kicked him between the legs before he could react. He swayed and fell to the floor, his wand slipping from his hand and rolling out of his reach.

Just before leaving, Ginny noticed that in his rush to get his wand, Draco had retrieved hers from his pocket instead of his own, and it was her wand now rolling along the floor.

Draco swore as she grabbed her wand and disappeared out of the door; he reached out to grab Harry's ankle as he passed but he dodged him.

Draco grappled for his own wand, ignoring the injury from Ginny and the searing pain that spread out from his knee from where he hit the stone floor. Once he had the wand clutched in his hand, he scrambled to his feet and sprinted through the door after the other two.

'Nice one,' Harry grabbed Ginny's arm when he caught up with her at the top of the stairs, turning her to face him, 'now he'll just kill us both.'

'At least we're out of there,' Ginny smiled, glancing around.

'Yeah, great,' Harry said, sarcastically, 'now what? I have no idea where to go. Maybe left?'

'Shut up Harry,' Ginny snapped, dashing through the hall towards the dining room, where she knew the doors to the garden were, 'for once just let someone else who knows better make the decisions.'

The sound of heavy footsteps echoing from the steps grew louder and stopped. Ginny and Harry turned their heads simultaneously to see Draco appear in the archway at the opening of the corridor, glaring at them.

'Shit,' Ginny muttered, grasping Harry's wrist and tugging him through to the dining room.

'Where are we going?' Harry asked, looking back at the man chasing after them. 'The front door is that way!'

'You think it's not guarded?' Ginny replied, shoving him through the French doors and down the steps to the garden, shooting various spells at Draco to try and slow him down. 'Keep running!'

Harry did as he was told, running blindly through the garden, dodging flowerbeds jumping over hedges. He could see Ginny running beside her, and hear her and Draco shouting spells at each other.

Suddenly, he felt as if an invisible hand wrapped around his ankle and caused him to plummet towards the ground. Then a hidden blade sliced down his back, causing him to yell out in pain. A couple of Draco's spells had hit him.

Ginny noticed this and skidded to a stop, whirling around, out of breath and trying to stop herself from shaking. She could see the fury in Draco's face. His eyes had darkened, his jaw and fists clenched, his race a little red from running.

'You're going to pay for that,' he growled, taking a step towards her.

Harry struggled to lift himself on his knees, and shouted to Draco, 'Don't even think about touching her.'

'And you are going to stop me, are you?' Draco sneered.

Ginny looked around. They were standing a right by the woods at the end of the garden. She knew she was in the place she could apparate from, but she wasn't so sure about Harry. Besides, she would have to be touching him, and she didn't want to make any sudden movements with Draco so close.

'Malfoy, come with us,' Ginny suggested, gently, 'I don't want to leave you here. I know you want to get out.'

Draco was standing opposite her, glaring back at her, his gaze every bit as angry as before. Harry was still sprawled on the floor, frowning in confusion.

'Ginny, what the hell's going on?' he asked.

Looking down at him, Ginny noticed the thin gash on Harry's back which was oozing blood.

'You didn't need to hurt him,' Ginny accused, wanting to heal the wound but thinking it unwise to raise her wand at that moment.

'What was I supposed to do, just let you get away?'

Ginny didn't reply.

'What was your plan?' he asked, 'What were you going to do after you helped Potter? Didn't you realise that every Death Eater in England would be after you?'

Biting her lip, Ginny glanced over at Harry, who was still slumped in the grass a metre away from her, staring back with a bewildered expression on his face. He started to sit up.

Draco swung up his wand, aiming it right between Harry's eyes, 'Don't move, Potter.'

Ginny took a step towards him. 'Put your wand down.'

'Don't tell me what to do, Weasley,' Draco snapped.

The silver moonlight glinted in his stormy grey eyes, which stared back at her.

'Draco, I-'

'How long had you been planning it?' Draco interrupted. 'Was it a spur of the moment thing? Did you decide in the last couple of days? Or were you a spy from the beginning?'

'No! I didn't plan to betray you. I didn't mean to hurt you.'

'Oh don't flatter yourself. You couldn't hurt me if you tried.'

She remembered what he'd said during their first big argument, _"I don't care enough about you for this to mean anything anyway," _he had sneered.

'If I didn't hurt you, then why are you angry?' she asked, quietly.

'Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're a traitor?' he spat. 'And risked _my_ life to save _him_.'

'_If you are thinking about backing out of this, Weasley, then you may as well just kill me now.' _

Ginny was silent.

'I'm angry because you stabbed me in the back,' he muttered.

'I thought you never trusted anyone,' she breathed.

"_Because I don't trust you. And because I don't believe you trust me."_

Draco whispered, 'I trusted you.'

His fingers tightened around his wand, his knuckles turning white. Draco was startled to find Ginny's own wand directed at his chest. He smirked, one eyebrow raised. 'What are you doing?'

'If you hurt Harry, I will kill you,' Ginny stated, calmly.

'Don't be ridiculous, you'd be killed.'

'So be it.'

'You're willing to risk your life to save Potter's?'

'He saved my life, so I'm returning the favour. I'd rather die than see Harry dead.'

Ginny wasn't sure, but she thought she'd seen a look of hurt in Draco's eyes before he'd replaced it with and unfeeling stare.

'That's not what you said two months ago.'

For the first time in the conversation, Harry spoke, making the two jump, 'What does he mean, Ginny?'

Not taking his eyes off Ginny, Draco replied, 'Your precious Ginny was working for the Dark Lord all this time. The only reason she befriended you again was to trick you into coming here to meet your good friend You-Know-Who.'

Harry looked up at Ginny, his eyes pleading for it not to be true.

When Ginny spoke, she couldn't look at him. 'I'm sorry, Harry, it's true. I wanted revenge. But then I became friends with you again. I thought a lot more about it… well… I realised that it was stupid.'

Laughing, Draco said, 'Death Eater to Potter-Worshipper, as easily as that?'

Ginny met his eye. 'I realised I wasn't cold-hearted enough.'

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"_But you're not a villain on the inside, are you? You feel guilt. Don't deny it. You want to not care. You want to distance yourself so that you can hurt other people to forget your own pain."_

"_You're wrong," _Ginny had shot back, defiantly_, "I'm not as cruel as you are, Malfoy."_

"_But you wish you were."_

'You,' Ginny snapped, 'are perfect for the job though. It's just a shame that after tonight you'll be too dead to take after your father and become Voldemort's right hand man.'

Draco snarled, 'I am not like my father.

Ginny laughed, humourlessly. 'Aren't you? You're a murdering, heartless Death Eater, just like him.'

She noticed his jaw clench.

'I have no choice,' he murmured, 'and if you hadn't noticed, you're just as bad as I am.'

"_I hate to break it to you, Weasley, but you're on my side."_

"'_I may be 'on your side', but I don't have to like you."_

'I'm not nearly as bad as you.'

'At least I've never betrayed a friend.'

'I couldn't do it, remember? I couldn't betray Harry.'

'I'm not talking about Potter.'

Ginny blinked.

'The Dark Lord is going to be here soon,' Draco stated. 'So what's it going to be? Are you going to die for him?'

'I thought he didn't want him dead?'

"_He wants him alive, Malfoy, got it? If you get carried away with your wand, I'll have you carried away in a coffin," _she remembered Black saying in that office so long ago.

Shaking his head, Draco replied, 'He's going to cut the foreplay and just kill him. He doesn't want to risk losing him again.'

'Then our whole mission was pointless.'

'Only because you decided to get a conscience. Don't you think Potter would do the same to me if he had the chance? It's not like this isn't a two sided war.'

Ginny took a deep breath. The air tasted of freshly cut grass. She tried to appear calm though she was shaking on the inside and her heartbeats were stumbling over each other.

'I warned you not to get too close. I tried to stop you,' Draco said, almost sadly.

"_You're getting attached to him, and it needs to stop."_

"_I am not!"_

'This isn't because of Harry,' Ginny insisted.

'I should have known you were too weak for this.'

"_No, you're weak because you allow yourself to feel, which leads to getting hurt."_

'I told you, Draco, I'm not doing this for Harry, I'm doing it because it's what's right.'

Draco's smirked, 'You're so naïve.'

'I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to,' she eventually said.

'You couldn't kill me,' Draco claimed.

'Are you going to take that risk?'

Draco paused, before replying, 'There is no risk.'

'What?'

'If I let you go, I'll die, if I don't let you go, I'll die. I can't win.'

'Well maybe you should think about someone else's life for once, not just your own,' Ginny demanded.

'What do you think I've been doing all this time?' he shouted, eyes flashing. 'Don't you dare accuse me of not thinking about the lives of others!'

'If you're going to die anyway, why kill Harry? See? You're not thinking of anyone else's life.'

Stung by the indifference in her tone, Draco replied, 'It's not only Potter's life in danger, is it? Do you really think the Dark Lord would only kill me if I failed?'

Ginny whispered, 'What do you mean?'

'My mother,' Draco dropped his wand to his side. 'She'll be killed if I fail this. Do you see now that Potter has to die?'

'It's not Harry's fault your family is in danger. You should never have become a Death Eater.'

Draco laughed humourlessly. 'Have you met my father? It's not as if I joined him willingly, unlike you.'

'Do you think killing Harry will end it? If the Dark Lord wins then it'll only mean more suffering for you and everyone. Come with us, you could be protected,' she assured him.

'What's the point? It's not as if I have a lot to live for. My family would abandon me and I'd spend my life hiding from the Dark Lord. I'd rather die.'

'Don't be stupid, you have everything to live for…there must be something that you want to stay alive for,' Ginny argued, scared by the dead expression in his eyes.

'There was, but then you chose Potter instead of me.'

Ginny was too shocked to speak.

"_Love is a weakness. I am not weak."_

She took a step towards him and said, 'No, Draco, I didn't choose him over you. I chose his side over Voldemort's.'

Draco glared back at her, completely still, trying to keep all the emotions crashing around inside him from showing on his face.

'Draco, I'm trying to do what's right, but that doesn't mean I don't love you.'

Noises came from behind them; Draco whipped around to see Voldemort and two of his hooded Death Eaters had appeared behind him.

'Malfoy,' said the high pitched voice of Voldemort, 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Why is this scum out here and not locked up?' He indicated towards Harry.

Ginny whirled around to see his dark, imposing outline, silhouetted by the moonlight. Half a dozen men stood beside him, black robed, masked and threatening. She squinted, just able to make out Voldemort's slitted eyes and deep frown lines, like cracks in his face. Ginny had signed herself up to help him. She felt sick.

Draco turned to face him. 'He got out.'

'Get out of the way so I can kill him.'

'No.'

Voldemort laughed, 'I'd be careful how you speak to me if I were you. Now move, before I kill you too.'

'No.'

Ginny stared wide eyed at the scene unfolding before her. Voldemort seemed so angry he was practically radiating fury.

'How dare you look upon me without fear?' he demanded.

'I have endured pain and welcome death. I have nothing to fear,' Draco stated, his voice quiet but clear in the night. Staring at his opponent, he stated the words 'Adada Kedavra.' Behind those two words, he put the force of all the loathing in his body, his pain filled childhood, the knowledge that his only companion had been the cold comfort of hatred and pride. Every smile he'd missed out on, every stolen laugh, every day spent alone, every tear shed, the loss of the fleeting joy of love, he could trace back to Voldemort. With the strength of a lifetime's pain, Draco's spell hit Voldemort's chest, sending him wide-eyed to the ground.

Draco started to run as soon as his spell made impact, aware of the green jets that would soon shoot towards him. He had almost made it to Ginny when the cries of "Avada Kedavra" rang out in the night. Bracing himself for death, he continued trying to get to Ginny. But death didn't come.

Glancing around, Draco watched as Harry, who must have got up while Draco had been talking, dart past him. The killing curses were absorbed by his chest and shoulder. Draco didn't see him fall because Ginny had already bridged the gap between them, grabbed his hand and apparated away.

Once they were safely inside Hogwarts, Draco turned to Ginny, eye wide in surprise.

Despite the situation, Ginny laughed a little at the expression she'd never seen on his face before.

'What's worse,' she quietly mimicked what he'd said to her a few days before, 'knowing that despite all you've said about him being a bastard and trying to get him killed, he helped you, or the fact that you actually needed his help?'

'Shit,' Draco whispered.

'Come on,' Ginny's smile slowly disappeared as the adrenaline in her blood died down. 'We need to go and break the news to Dumbledore.'

She took his hand and started to walk away.

'Wait,' he tugged her back. Before Ginny could ask why, he pressed his lips to hers. After a while he pulled away, a small smile on his face as he said, 'I love you too.'

'I thought love was a weakness?' Ginny grinned.

'It is,' Draco pressed his forehead against her. 'I may never forgive you for doing this to me.'

'You've done worse to me.'

'Like what?'

Ginny raised an eyebrow. 'You locked me in a cell.'

'It's not a cell.'

'Whatever.' Ginny smirked. 'Does this mean you'll start being nice to me?'

'I'll keep the chivalry to a minimum, if you'd prefer.'

Laughing, Ginny started to make her way towards Dumbledore's office. 'Come on, we've got to tell everyone what a hero you are.'

Draco groaned.

'And that Harry saved…'

'Don't say it,' Draco interrupted. 'I'm warning you.'

'Harry Potter saved your life.'

'I will kill you.'

'I love you too.'

**AN: And that's the end! I'm quite sad this has ended, it's been fun, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Thankyou to anyone who as read this whole story, and an even bigger thankyou to anyone who's reviewed or is going to.**

**I've almost finished writing one more version of the ending, in which Ginny doesn't go back to Harry's side, because I know at least one person (Vaka Shiva) wanted it to end that way. I'm not going to put it up though, so if anyone wants to see it then ask me and I'll PM it to you as soon as it's finished. (Edit: I've now uploaded this version anyway after so many people asked me for it, it's in the chapter after this one!)**

**Goodbye everyone!**


	19. Other Alternative Ending

**AN: Lots of people asked for the 3rd version, and most liked it the best, so I decided to post it after all. I found it surprisingly difficult to write, which probably shows in the lower quality of writing, which I apologise for. I'm quite pleased with it overall though, and I've had thoughts of maybe a sequel? Thanks to everyone who requested it. I'd love to know what you all think of it! **

'Did Malfoy hurt you?' Harry asked, concerned.

'What?' Ginny looked up, surprised when he spoke after such a long silence. 'Oh, no he didn't.'

'Good,' Harry seemed visibly relieved.

There was a click of a lock and the door swung open. Ginny looked up to see Draco's imposing figure in the doorway, seeming very tall from where she sat on the floor leaning against the wall.

'Everyone having a nice time?' he asked dryly, regarding Harry with a mixture of disgust and delight.

'Yeah, it's great fun in here,' Harry replied.

Draco looked at Harry scathingly for a moment before turning to catch Ginny's eye, who was looking back at him in silence.

'Any reason you're here?' Ginny inquired coolly, 'or did you just miss me?'

'Ginny, you know I can't go ten minutes without you,' Draco responded instantly, equally as composed and with a barely visible smile, 'to give me that little ego boost by reminding me that I'm not a Weasley.'

With a smile, she retorted, 'Draco, if your ego was inflated any more than it already is it would have it could officially be made a country.'

'That would be excellent; I could declare war on your offensive hair colour.'

'At least I have one.'

Harry looked bewilderedly between the two of them, confused by the banter that could only be described as… playful?

'Seriously,' Ginny insisted, as Draco shut and locked the door, 'what do you want?'

Draco looked at her with a grin that Ginny didn't like the look of.

'I just thought we could have a chat,' he pointed his wand at Harry, whose eyes widened as two metal chains poured from the tip and snaked its way over to him, both attaching one end to the hook in the wall and the other ends to each his wrist.

'Draco…' Ginny warned. 'Don't do this.'

'Why not, Ginny?' Draco looked pointedly at the chain before turning back to her. 'Who's he going to tell?'

'I don't care about him telling anyone,' Ginny hissed. 'I just don't see the point of telling him.'

'Telling me what?' Harry demanded, frustrated by his confusion.

'Shut up,' Draco snapped, not turning around, eyes still fixed on Ginny. 'Why don't you want him to know?'

Ginny sighed. 'Is it important why?'

'Crucial.'

'I just think it would be better if he didn't know.'

Draco studied her for a moment, before turning to face Harry. 'Do you like the truth, Potter?'

'What the hell is going on?'

'Do you not understand what a question is?'

Harry glared at him. 'Tell me whatever it is you're talking about.'

'Say please.' Draco wasn't smiling but he was clearly enjoying this.

'Please,' Harry forced out, as if saying the word caused him pain.

'Would you like the pleasure of telling him?' Draco asked Ginny.

'Just cut the games and tell me!' Harry exclaimed.

'Alright, calm down, Potter.' Draco smirked, beginning to pace the room. 'I'll tell you. I never kidnapped Ginny. She never wanted to be your friend.'

'What are you going on about?'

'This whole time she's been working for the Dark Lord. Her job was to get you to trust her then to bring you here.'

'What?' Harry shook his head. 'You're lying.'

Shrugging, Draco uttered, 'You don't believe me? Fine, ask her.'

Harry looked at Ginny expectantly, eyebrows furrowed slightly as he silently begged for her to say it wasn't true.

'Well?' Draco prompted Ginny when she said nothing. 'Are you on my side?'

'Yes.'

At this simple word, Harry's face seemed to go through a series of expressions rapidly – shock, hurt then disbelief before settling on conviction.

'Ginny,' Harry looked at her vehemently, kneeling up with his arms pulled back by the restraints. 'I know this isn't you. He's tricked you – with a potion or the Imperius curse or blackmail or whatever. Ginny look at me! Shut the fuck up Malfoy!'

Draco was laughing so hard he was leaning back against the stone wall.

'Harry…' Ginny said quietly, looking at him pityingly.

His attention now on Draco, Harry got to his feet and demanded, 'What have you done to her? What's so fucking funny, Malfoy, you bastard?'

'It's so funny,' Draco managed to say through his laughter, 'because you actually think the only reason she would betray you would be that she was being forced.'

'Tell me what you did to her!' Harry shouted, which only caused Draco to collapse against the wall with laughter again.

'He hasn't done anything to me.' Ginny was calm despite the two other boys, one shaking with laughter and the other shaking with rage.

Harry turned to her. 'Ginny, I don't know what he's said to convince you to do this, but you can't trust him. He's a lying, manipulative wanker and he'll just take advantage of you.'

'For fucks sake Harry!' Ginny finally snapped, silencing Harry and causing even Draco to control himself save a few quiet chuckles. She had been trying to keep control of herself so far, but it wasn't in her nature and he was pushing her. Her fists clenched at her sides and she exclaimed, 'It was you who convinced me to do this, not Malfoy – he didn't even want my help.'

Harry looked bewildered by her accusation. 'What? What did I do?'

'This! I don't need you to look after me, I'm not an idiot.'

'I…' Harry frowned, trying to explain himself, 'I was trying to protect you.'

'Well, look at what's happening, Harry.' Ginny's voice was even and quiet again. 'I made my own decisions, and I'm fine. You made your own and you're about to die.'

Harry's eyes widened. 'What?'

'What did you expect?' Draco sneered. 'How ironic that you tell Ginny that _I'm _manipulative, when really she's the one who manipulated you.'

'Shut up.'

'You're so predictable.' Draco ignored Harry's protest. 'Everything she did was a lie designed to lead you here. Every word... Every kiss…'

'You fucking bastard!' Harry lunged forwards at Draco, only to feel a shockwave of pain in each arm as the chains restrained him. Draco laughed mockingly, moving nearer so his face was close to Harry's.

'Poor Harry,' Draco jeered, 'this must be so embarrassing for you. But at least you won't have to live with the pain for long.'

'You think you can get away with this, Malfoy,' Harry snarled through gritted teeth, still pulling against his restraints, 'but you can't.'

'On the contrary, I will.' Draco stepped back from him, striding over to Ginny who was standing against the wall opposite Harry. 'It's a shame you won't be around to see the events following your death – but I'll give you the general idea of what will happen.'

Harry glared at him.

Unaffected by the deadly look he was receiving, Draco continued, 'Firstly, Dumbledore will be killed. The Ministry – which is practically run my Death Eaters already, to be honest, will be taken over by the Dark Lord, as will Hogwarts. Your friends might be spared, it's really too early to say. Oh, except of course Granger; I'd say the likelihood of her dying is pretty high, she's a mudblood after all. And did I mention Ginny's going to be living with me? Are you crying, Potter?'

Harry, whose head was hung now, snapped back, 'No.'

Ginny commented, 'You shouldn't have underestimated me, Harry.'

With a hand under Harry's chin, Draco lifted his head so he was facing him, but Harry shook him off.

'Come on, Potter, it's not all bad.' Draco thought for a moment before adding, 'Oh wait, yes it is.'

'There's one good thing,' Harry muttered, panting slightly. 'I'll never have to see your face ever again.'

'I'm glad you've found a positive side, but let's face it Potter: I've taken your pride, your hero status, your girlfriend, and soon your life. It couldn't be a lot worse.'

Harry looked at Ginny who was now standing beside Draco. 'You chose _that _over me?'

'Must be quite a blow to your ego,' Ginny replied.

Draco shot an indignant look at her. 'I can't believe you ever chose him in the first place. Did you temporarily lose _all_ of your senses?'

Ginny just smiled in reply.

'Are you going to kill me now, Ginny?' Harry questioned.

'_I'm _not the one who's going to do it. Neither is Draco.'

'Well who is?'

There was a resounding crack which made Harry jump, and a house elf appeared in the room.

'He's arrived, Master Malfoy,' the elf announced before disappearing again. Draco strode to the door and opened it, soon by Ginny.

'Ginny, who is going to kill me?' Harry repeated.

With a smirk that reminded Harry sickeningly of Draco, she stood in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob and revealed, 'Who do you think?'

Ginny was sitting on the steps leading down to the garden, her head cupped in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. She squinted at the end of the garden – she could just about make out the trees at the end silhouetted against the night sky. It would be so easy for her to run to the trees and apparate away… but she didn't want to. She'd made her decision to stay with Draco and she was going to stick with it. Sure, he was a jerk sometimes, but she liked that. He didn't treat her like some kind of doll, he wasn't afraid to insult her and the feeling was mutual. Despite this, she had learnt he could also be a pretty decent person. Smiling slightly, she remembered when he had healed her wounds and let her stay in his room. A little more regretfully she remembered that night she had come on to him when he had refused to take advantage of her.

He had changed, she concluded.

'I thought you had run away for a moment,' came a voice from behind her. 'It was a pretty good moment.'

Laughing, she stood up, running a hand through her hair as he approached her. 'You'll never get rid of me now, Draco. Speaking of which, you mentioned me living with you earlier.'

Draco smiled a little. 'You noticed that then.'

'Yes, I did, and I don't remember agreeing to that. Of course, I didn't mention anything in there, I thought it might undermine your authority, and I know how much you enjoy acting superior.'

'I can assure you there's no acting involved when Potter's concerned.'

Ginny's smile faltered. 'So he's… he's dead now?'

Draco nodded.

'So we succeeded.'

Draco nodded again.

After a pause, Ginny asked suspiciously, 'Why are you being so uncharacteristically quiet? I imagined you would be celebrating.'

'I'm thinking.'

'About what?'

'I'm trying to find a way of saying "I love you" without sounding like a twat.'

Surprised, Ginny managed, 'Well… I don't think you succeeded.'

'Apparently not.'

'I thought love was a weakness?' Ginny grinned.

'It is,' Draco pressed his forehead against hers, 'I may never forgive you for doing this to me.'

'You've done worse to me.'

'Like what?'

Ginny raised an eyebrow. 'You locked me in a cell.'

'It's not a cell.'

'Whatever.' Ginny smirked. 'Does this mean you'll start being nice to me?'

'I'll keep the chivalry to a minimum, if you'd prefer.'

'If you change, I'll kill you.'

Draco smiled a little. 'As if I would change for you.'

Ginny leaned in to kiss him but Draco moved his head back and whispered, 'Aren't you forgetting something?'

Rolling her eyes, Ginny murmured, 'I love you too.'

Draco's smile faded. 'If you're going to lie you could at least be convincing.'

'I'm not lying,' she whispered. 'I just didn't want to sound like a twat.'

Draco took hold of her wrists, sliding his hands down to hers and interlocked his fingers with hers. 'So you'll stay?'

'Where else would I go?' Ginny tilted her head up and closed the gap between their lips. It was then she realised that, even if there was somewhere else, there was nowhere she would rather be.


End file.
